


Remember Me For Centuries

by 0bviousLeigh



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, No Aliens, No pairings - Freeform, Pokemon AU, later descriptions of cruelty to pokemon and drug abuse by minor characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-20 14:27:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 38,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9495716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0bviousLeigh/pseuds/0bviousLeigh
Summary: Every legend starts with someone who has no idea what they’re about to get into.





	1. Legends Are Told

**Author's Note:**

> Work title and chapter titles are all taken from the lyrics to Fall Out Boy's song "Centuries"
> 
> Basically my thought process in writing this fic went something like this  
> Me: Gee, some of these Voltron fics are heavy on the angst…I want to write something fun, maybe a Pokémon AU!  
> My brain: That’s a great idea!  
> Me: Wait, does Shiro have his prosthetic arm and how do I explain if he does?  
> My brain: Oh, he doesn’t have it yet.  
> Me: Okay that’s—WAIT WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘YET’?  
> My brain: YOU'LL SEE

“What is the purpose of the Elite?” Hunk asks.

Lance closes his eyes. “Not to be infallible, but to test the strength and ability of Pokémon trainers.”

“Yup,” Hunk says. “And when challenging the Elite, a trainer is permitted to heal their Pokémon how many times during battle?”

“None,” Lance says, “They can only heal their Pokémon after they have won that particular battle or forfeited their battle with the Elite member.”

“Yup,” Hunk says again. “And why was Hunk dragged into this?”

Lance feels his eye twitch. “Pay attention!”

“No seriously,” Hunk whines, “I don’t want to be one of the Elite, why am I here?”

“To help me study!” Lance says. “Don’t you want to be able to brag that your best friend is in the Elite?”

“I really don’t brag,” Hunk says. “And who would I even brag to?”

“Anyone you have a crush on?” Lance offers.

“How does you being in the Elite make me look better?”

“You’re right, it only makes me look better, but don’t you want me to look better?”

Hunk throws his hands in the air. “You’re impossible.”

“Impossible to BEAT!” Lance hollers, pumping a fist in the air. “Let’s get this show on the road!”

 

The Elite team of Hoenn last issued a call for new members two years ago. Lance was, at the time, hot on the trail of a wild Milotic that he was determined to tame, and missed the test. He got the Milotic, and his old trainer rival Keith got in the Elite team. Lance told himself that he would be first in line at the next test, there was no way he was going to sit back while Keith of all people got to be Elite. In the two years that Keith has been an Elite, Lance has been training relentlessly. He has a whole team of water Pokémon ready to kick Keith’s fire trainer-butt (coincidence that he trained water, he’s had that dream since he was three and fell in love with the ocean), and he’s studied the rules and responsibilities of being Elite nonstop on the journey to Hoenn.

The gym isn’t on the main island, it’s a few miles out, on an island that rises from the ocean out of seemingly nowhere. The island itself has a maximum altitude of almost 800 feet above sea level, and it’s only a mile wide at its widest, but it’s ten miles across, and shaped like a crescent moon. To get to the island, Lance and Hunk get on a fishing boat at sunrise that takes the, from the mainland to within a half mile of the shore, and then they surf on Lance’s Lapras the rest of the way. Then it’s an hour long hike through the dense jungle to the gym, only taking so long because it’s slow going on the wet, muddy path.

Lance is not, however, the first in line for the test. There are five trainers ahead of him, and from the looks of it, Lance is the last one to show up for the test. He grumbles about it as the group waits outside of the building. The door is locked, and will not be opened until 9 AM, official opening time. It’s not a boring wait, as it is a very pretty gym. The building is spread across a hill top, with narrow hallways splicing off the main building and leading to pod-shaped buildings that hold different gyms. The hill is covered in tropical foliage and flowers, between the leaves of which there is a fantastic view of the ocean.

An older man with bright red hair opens the door to the main building for them. He wears a blue suit, has a Butterfree following him, and has a very pompous air about himself.

“Welcome trainers!” The man says, eyes closed and head tipped back, “It with great pleasure that I welcome you to the Hoenn Pokémon League! I ask that you remain calm and proceed one at a time, single file, into the building!”

The man finally opens his eyes, and his shoulders slump. “Is this…all of you?”

“Um, minus one!” Hunk calls, taking several steps back. “I am merely here for moral support.”

The man gasps, “No, no, no, you must take the test, too! I mean, what is the point of coming all the way here and not taking the test at all?!”

Hunk babbles, and Lance speaks over him. “He’s got a point, Hunk. You know the rules as well as I do, and you’ve got a good team, what’s the worst that could happen?”

Hunk grumbles, but falls in line behind the other trainers.

The man administering the test introduces himself as Coran, assistant to the Elite trainers, and says that he will administer the first two parts of the test. The trainers leave their travel bags outside the examination room, taking with them only their Pokémon.

The first part of the test is a written one. It quizzes potential trainers on the aspects of the Elite team, the history of it, and asks them to write a bit about their Pokémon journey. The trainers are provided pencils and given two hours to complete the test. Lance is the first to finish his exam. Hunk finishes next to last, and the last to finish is a scrawny, bespectacled trainer who can’t be older than sixteen, and practically writes a novel when describing his Pokémon journey. Lance saw him ask for more paper four times.

The next part of the test is a display of strength. They don’t actually battle other Pokémon, nor do the Elite trainers watch in person, much to Lance’s disappointment since he wanted to see Keith’s face when he brought out his Milotic and Gyarados and all his other awesome Pokémon.

Coran sets up an obstacle course and a target test. Each trainer has to guide their Pokémon through the obstacle course, then use the targets to show a particular attack that they think shows their Pokémon’s strength. Lance goes last, since he’s the only water trainer. He’s not allowed to watch the other trainers complete the test, and they don’t come back to the waiting room at the end, so he can’t ask Hunk how he did. When Lance finally enters the gym, Coran has flooded it.

“I’m not sure it’s deep enough for some water Pokémon,” Coran says, “But you’re the trainer. Pick a Pokémon you think can make it through.”

Lance sends his Prinplup through the obstacle course, and of course it makes it through with flying colors. Lance makes sure to shower his Pokémon in praise before calling it back, and then Coran tells him to pick a Pokémon for the target practice.

Lance is on the verge of calling out Gyarados, but he changes his mind.

“Blue, come on out!” He hollers, tossing the pokeball into the air.

His Vaporeon emerges, shaking herself, and she begins to sniff the air, emitting a high pitched squeaking noise. Lance lets her explore for a while, long enough for Coran to look antsy, and then he snaps his fingers twice.

“Blue, follow my voice,” Lance says.

It’s not the most conventional target practice. Lance runs to the targets, and screams the attacks he wants Blue to use. He usually dashes away from the targets before the full brunt of her attack can hit, but he gets pretty soaked in the process. When all the targets have been demolished, Lance lets out a joyful shout.

“You did it, Blue! Come here, kiddo!”

Blue leaps, and Lance catches her and spins her around.

“An interesting display for sure,” Coran says, and he sounds approving. “Well, let’s go on.”

Lance is still carrying Blue when he emerges from the test room and catches Hunk’s eye.

“You used Blue?” He asks, eyes wide.

Lance nods. “If the Elite don’t want her, I don’t want them.”

The last part of the test is an interview with the Elites. This is the part of the test that Lance is most nervous about, and it takes place after the trainers are given lunch. They eat in a formal dining room, and Lance and Hunk are joined by the scrawny trainer from before. Lance wonders if the kid dyes his own hair, because the lower half of it is black, but the upper half is brown.

“Can I join you?” He asks, hovering by Lance’s arm.

Lance shrugs and tries to keep Blue from crawling into his dinner plate. “Sure,” he grunts.

The trainer sits and clicks his tongue. Blue stops, turns her head, and sniffs. The trainer holds out his hand, and Blue sniffs, then licks his fingers.

Lance is impressed. “Not everyone knows not to just start petting her,” he says.

The trainer shrugs. “I know a blind Pokémon when I see one. How long have you trained her?”

Lance puffs up proudly. “Seven years, since she was a baby.” He holds his hand out to the trainer. “I’m Lance, and you are?”

“Call me Pidge,” he says.

Pidge stays with Hunk and Lance after lunch as they go back to the waiting room. One by one, the hopefuls get called in to the interview. Lance gets nervous when Hunk is called before him, and then even more nervous when he’s the last in the room. Finally, Coran beckons Lance into the room.

There are three members of the Elite currently active in Hoenn. Keith is a fire-type trainer, then there’s Shiro and Allura. Allura is a Psychic type trainer, her family founded the gym in Hoenn and she’s lived in it since the day she was born. Shiro holds the record for youngest member of the Elite, having joined when he was only 16, and is classified as a Steel type trainer, though his webpage says he only has three steel type Pokémon in his battle team.

‘ _Oh, shit_ ,’ Lance thinks as he enters the room. Keith got hot. All the trainers are hot. Keith has the bad-boy look about him, Allura is radiating power and grace, and Shiro looks like he could bench press a Gyarados. They sit behind a long table, papers spread out before them, and there’s one chair placed a few paces away from them.

“Do I know you?” Keith asks as Lance takes a step forward.

Lance sputters, “Should hope so! You’re my arch rival, remember? We swore vengeance against each other in school when you cheated in kickball, and we were neck-and-neck in the trainer academy.”

Keith looks confused, then amused. “Oh, yeah! I remember you!”

Lance sighs heavily. So much for his long-standing rivalry.

“Good to see you, Lance,” Shiro says, smiling warmly. “We just have a few questions for you.”

Allura clears her throat. “We saw you with your Vaporeon. We noticed that it—”

“She,” Lance corrects. Blue is the only Pokémon he’s ever had sexed.

“She,” Allura says, “Is blind. It takes someone special to train a blind Pokémon, and we—”

“I’m sorry,” Lance interrupts again, “I have to disagree. You don’t have to be special to train a blind Pokémon.”

Allura looks interested. “Tell us about that.”

Lance looks at his lap, hands cupped as if he’s holding Blue when he first found her, back when she was an Eevee. “I found her in an old nest, tiny little thing, abandoned by the looks of her. I got told dozens of times that blind Pokémon were too much for a kid like me, I was only twelve, but I knew I would hate myself if I gave up on her. I wasn’t an official trainer yet, I was still in school, but my siblings all had Pokémon. So I raised Blue the same way my brothers and sisters raised their Pokémon. I learned with her, how to help her see. She used echo location, and I learned, too. I made clicking noises to alert her to my presence. She trusted me enough to walk on a leash, and to let me lead her around outside. Sure, I had to do things differently, but no Pokémon can be raised the same way as another. It’s like learning to keep the bathroom door locked so your Pikachu doesn’t jump in the shower with you. The thing about Blue is she doesn’t know she’s blind. She can’t see, but she was born that way, so to her, she’s not different from any other Vaporeon she meets, so while she needs some considerations, most of those are just manners. Like, don’t go up and pet her without introducing yourself first. Don’t just grab her off the floor. I’m not a special trainer because of her, maybe a patient one, but I didn’t change who I am for her.”

Lance looks up. The trainers all look impressed.

“So, what attracts you to water Pokémon?” Shiro asks.

Lance grins. “The ocean, of course! Man, I’ve been in love with the ocean since I was three. I went to the beach with my family, and I was ankle deep in the water. I bent down to pick up a shell, and this huge wave came out of nowhere and knocked me flat on the sand. I got water up my nose, in my eyes, in my mouth, I was a mess. But I learned a valuable lesson—don’t turn your back on something wild. I was three but I wanted to be that wild thing no one would turn their back on!” He sits back. “And I got older and realized that the ocean is freakin’ beautiful, ya know? Stormy or calm, seen from the sky or under the waves, it’s a gorgeous place.”

Having finished, Lance waits for Keith to ask him something. But Keith looks at Allura. “Box?” He asks.

Allura nods, and Keith reaches below the table and pulls out an old box. He opens it. “Lance, look at these medals, but don’t touch them until I tell you to.”

Lance is totally weirded out, and a little offended that Keith didn’t ask him anything, but he goes to stand in front of the box. He looks at the medals. They look more like scraps of metal than actual medals. They all seem to have something carved on them.

“Look carefully,” Allura says.

Lance leans forward and narrows his eyes at the silver scraps. One has caught his eye. If he stares really hard, it looks like the carvings are swirling.

“You can touch them now,” Keith says.

Lance’s hand hovers over the medal that he’s been staring at. He hesitates, then picks it up. He brings it closer to his face and squints at it, tilting it this way and that. If he looks at it a certain way, he can almost pick a shape out of the carvings, but it can’t be what he’s thinking of…

“Can I see what you picked?” Allura asks.

Lance jumps and fairly throws the medal at her. She makes a note on a piece of paper, and Lance rubs his arms. He’s got chills.

Allura hands Lance the medal again, and though Lance isn’t sure he wants it, he takes it anyway. The three trainers stand up. “Come with us,” they say. They lead Lance through a door on the right side of the room, and into another room where Pidge and Hunk are waiting. Well, at least if Lance failed, he failed with them. The room they’re in is a little spooky, circular in shape and seemingly made of dark glass, and illuminated by light that seems to come from behind the glass.

The three Elites stand in front of the trainees.

“This, trainers,” Allura says, “Is your final test.”

“I thought there were only three,” Pidge says.

“Officially, yes,” Allura says, winking. “This is the secret test.” She presses her hand to the wall, and the glass slides forward and up. A large, white panel slides out from the empty space. “Each of you picked a medal. Please place it on the panel.”

Pidge is the first to do so, then Lance, then Hunk. Each time a medal is placed on the panel, the panel emits a soft, pulsing glow of white light. Once all three medals have been laid on it, the panel flashes yellow, blue, and silver.

The room falls silent. Suddenly the lights go out. Yellow light pulses from the panel, and an image is projected onto the glass surrounding the trainers.

“Zapdos,” Allura says.

The image of the great bird moves, flying once around the room. Lance stares at it in awe, and Pidge follows the Legendary bird’s progress around the room with an almost longing look. The bird lets out a very realistic sounding call, one that echoes long after the image has faded.

The room falls dark once more, and blue light pulses from the panel, and a new image is projected on to the glass.

“Kyogre,” Keith says.

Lance’s heart aches at the sight of the Legendary creature of the sea. He used to have a poster of Kyogre over his bed. When the images passes by him, Lance can’t resist pressing his hand to the glass.

When the image fades, the room goes dark again, and everyone looks at the panel. It pulses silver, and another image flashes across the glass.

“Regirock,” Shiro says.

Hunk lets out a gasp. Lance knows for a fact that Regirock has been his favorite Legendary since he was a child. He keeps his eyes on the Pokémon’s image as it makes its way around the room.

Once Regirock’s image fades, the lights go on once more, and the Elites smile at the trainers.

“Congratulations,” Allura says. “You have all passed the test to become members of the Elite.”

Stunned silence follows. Hunk is the first to react.

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!” He cries. “I was not, I didn’t, whaaaaaaat?”

Allura hands out the medals. “These are no ordinary scraps. They are ancient tools, used to connect to the most powerful Pokémon for hundreds of years. The Legendaries are real, as real as you and I. They only bond with the trainers they deem to be Elite. These trainers possess qualities that those wishing to bond with Pokémon can earn from. A desire for knowledge that can change the world, the understanding that differences are not weakness, and a deep respect for the bonds between beings, for example. These are qualities each of you possess, among others.”

Keith says, “The Elite are not meant to be infallible, but rather an example to all trainers to learn from. That being said, the talents of the Elites sometimes come in handy when the balance between human and Pokémon goes awry. It is during these times that the Elite’s bonds with the Legendaries comes in handy.”

“We do more than battle trainers,” Shiro says. “We safeguard the well-being of human and Pokémon, and we aim to be the first line of defense if that well-being is threatened.”

“Defense?” Lance squawks, “Defense from what, exactly?”

Allura looks sad. “Not everyone is kind to their Pokémon. Not everyone respects the integrity of their habitats, of our world in general. We hope for peace, and our bond to the Legendaries is meant to be only a last line of defense, but there may come a day where you have to call upon a Legendary Pokémon to defend those who put their trust in you.” She turns to Shiro. “Shiro and I once had to use our bond to the Pokémon.” She reaches below her collar and pulled out a thin silver chain, at the end of which was her medal. “I am connected to Cresselia.”

Shiro takes his medal from his pocket. “I’m connected to Dialga, which is why I’m classified as a Steel type trainer, though I train all types of Pokémon.”

Keith shows his medal as well. “To satisfy any curiosity, I’m connected to Entei, though I’ve never had to call on my bond to it.”

Pidge asks, “So what happened that made you call on the Legendaries?”

Allura’s gaze hardens. “A group of alleged scientists were using explosives to try to break into a sacred space. A secret location known only to the best of Pokémon trainers. The cavern where Jirachi sleeps.”

Lance’s jaw drops, and so does Hunk’s.

“It was three years ago,” Shiro says, “The Leader of the Elites was bonded to Jirachi, and sensed when its’ sleep was disturbed. It took everything we had to keep those people from breaking into the cave and attempting to use Jirachi’s powers for selfish reasons, but we did it.”

Hunk leans against the wall. “Oh boy,” he says, “This is not what I was planning to do today. This is not what I was planning to do with my _life._ I was going to hang around and be Lance’s assistant or something, or just stay on the island until someone kicked me off, I wasn’t going to be part of the Elite!”

“You may refuse,” Allura says, “But if you do, I’ll have to hypnotize you so that you forget what you’ve learned about the Legendaries.”

“You can’t leave!” Lance cries. “Hunk, buddy, come on! I know you’re a great trainer, you always have been, you can teach a lot to trainers! And just look at what happened, Regirock bonded with you!”

“But this is the fate of the world being discussed, here!” Hunk cries.

“Well it’s not like we’re alone, any of us,” Pidge says, adjusting his glasses. “It would be the whole team, right?”

Shiro nods. “Indeed, it would be. You’re not alone in this, any of you.”

“Can we have like, a night to come to terms with this?” Lance asks.

“Of course,” Allura says.

Keith gives her a look. “Really? You didn’t give me a night.”

“You didn’t ask,” Allura says dryly. “Besides, we need all the trainers we can get. We had a small turnout today.”

Allura leads the way out of the room. The other trainers are gone, and only Coran is left.

“Aha!” He cries, clapping his hands. “I knew I was right to convince Mr. Hunk to take the test! Wonderful, three new trainers!”

“Possibly,” Allura says, “We’re giving them a night to think it over.”

“Well, they will join,” Coran says, waving a hand, “I’m sure of it.”

“Did the other trainers pick medals?” Lance asks, purely out of curiosity.

“Just you three,” Allura says, “We only ask the trainers that we think would be a good fit for the team.”

“Right then!” Coran says, clicking his heels together, “Let me show you to your rooms! Dinner will be served at 6 PM sharp, don’t be late because I make no promises there will be anything left. Between Keith and the Pokémon, someone is always eating something.” Coran starts walking. Keith, Allura, and Shiro go the opposite way. Lance, Pidge, and Hunk follow Coran.

“I’ll show the different gyms after dinner,” Coran says, “Your bags have already been brought to your rooms. It’s not a five star hotel, but it’s better than sleeping on the sides of roads with Wurmples crawling into your jammies.” He chuckles. “Now, this gym is closed on Sundays, and you all will rotate with who is on the challenge roster each day, so that you and your Pokémon get other days to rest. Should there be an emergency, such as a trainer or their Pokémon is seriously injured, one of the reserve trainers will be expected to fill their place if any other challengers come to the gym.”

Coran shows Pidge and Hunk to their rooms, explaining that the windows in each room are made of one-way glass, and can be covered with a shade or hurricane-proof covers with the touch of a button. Then, Coran shows Lance his room. He enters and his breath catches in his throat. The room is painted yellow, furnished sparsely with a bed, a dresser, and a desk with a lamp, but it’s the view that makes Lance stop in his tracks. The wall on the far side of the room is entirely glass, providing an awe-inspiring view of the ocean and the faraway mountains of the island. It’s like looking at paradise, framed in a living picture.

“I thought you might like this,” Coran says, “Given how much you love the ocean.”

Lance blinks tears from his eyes. He’s never leaving this place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started writing this when I first finished watching season 1 and then I kind of...stopped working on it for a while and when I finished season 2 I finished the story. So the whole thing is completely finished, there will be no changes, and there are no pairings.


	2. Dust or Gold

Lance dumps his stuff on the floor of his room, changes into his swim trunks, doesn’t bother to take his shit off, and then dashes out of the building, pokeballs in his hands and hollering “BEACH TIME” at the top of his lungs as he leaves. He busts out of a side door, flinging pokeballs into the air as he goes. Prinplup, Blastoise, Slowbro, and Azurill emerge and start running after him. He skids to halt at the water’s edge, releases Sharpedo, Lapras, Milotic and Gyarados, and when they start swimming around, he calls out Blue. He catches her in his arms and watches her face as she smells the salt water.

“Want to go for a swim?” Lance asks.

Blue lets out a trill of delight, and together they dive headfirst into the waves.

It hasn’t even been that long since Lance got to go to the ocean with his Pokémon, but each time he’s able to take them for a proper swim he treats it like they haven’t seen the ocean in months. He hopes he never loses that feeling of joy he gets when he hitches a ride on Gyarados’ fin, or high-dives off Milotic’s head, or plays Marco Polo with his smaller Pokémon. Oh yeah, they play that game. Blue always wins.

“Argh, you found me again!” Lance cries when Blue leaps on his head and nearly drowns him. Actually the words come out more like a sputter than a proper statement.

“Dude, how long have you been playing that game today?” Hunk asks.

Lance turns to the voice. Hunk is standing ankle-deep in the water and shaking his head at Lance.

Lance throws his arms up. “Hunk, I’m drowning!” he blubbers.

“Stand up, you big baby!” Hunk laughs.

Lance gets to his feet. “By god, it’s a miracle!” He cries, as if he wasn’t fully aware that he was sitting down, and the water was only up to his calves. He takes Blue off his head and holds her in front of him. “When were you going to tell me that we were in shallow water the whole time?”

Hunk laughs, but he seems distant. He looks out at the ocean. “Man, this is crazy. If you told me yesterday that I was going to be part of the Elite…and the test wasn’t what I anticipated, especially not the interview. I thought the Elite were scary, especially Keith, from how you talk about him, but he was pretty nice. He asked me what lessons being a Pokémon trainer had taught me.”

Keith had asked Hunk a question? Then it stood to reason he’d asked Pidge something, too. Why hadn’t he asked Lance anything? Did he not think Lance’s answer meant anything? Lance frowns, his mood souring.

Blue trills and waves her paws at Lance’s face. Lance brings her closer and she starts grooming his eyebrows.

“Oh, thank you,” Lance says as she sticks her paws in his eyes. “You take such good care of me.”

Someone laughs, and Lance and Hunk both turn to the shore. Shiro is standing a few feet away, watching them and smiling fondly.

“When did you get down here?” Hunk asks.

“Just now,” Shiro says. “I saw Lance in the water, I guess I must have been not far behind you, Hunk.”

Lance gently maneuvers Blue off of his face. “Everything okay?” He asks.

Shiro nods. “Oh yeah, I just wanted to ask if Coran had given you the rundown on the beach gear.”

“There’s beach gear?” Lance asks.

Hunk rolls his eyes. “Mister ‘can’t stay away from the water’ was gone before it could happen, that’s what I was coming here for.”

Shiro takes off his backpack. “I had a feeling, I took the liberty of bringing down an umbrella and some beach toys for the Pokémon.”

Prinplup hears “toy” and runs over to Shiro, squeaking and hopping and being a nuisance.

“Where are your manners?” Lance asks, grabbing Prinplup by the fin and tugging it back.

“It’s alright,” Shiro laughs, ruffling Prinplup’s feathers. He hands it a bucket, and the giant baby runs back to the ocean and starts filling the bucket and dumping it out.

“It’s been a while since we had a water-type trainer here,” Shiro says as he looks out at the Pokémon. “I’d forgotten how relaxing it is to just see them enjoy the ocean.”

“Oh yeah, easy for you to say,” Lance says, “Try babysitting them while they play, it’s no picnic!”

“You seem to do it well,” Shiro says. “I can tell you have a strong bond with your Pokémon.”

Lance grins. “Well, thanks. I mean they are like my family.” He’s struck with a thought. “You know, they’re really friendly, if you want to swim with them I’m sure they’d love it.”

“Yeah?” Shiro asks.

“Oh, it’s awesome!” Hunk says, “Come on, Gyarados lets us hang off its fin and it pulls us around the water, I’ll show you.”

Both of them head towards the water and Lance chuckles. “Brilliant, now they can babysit and I can relax!”

He digs through Shiro’s bag and finds a beach towel, which he lays out on the sand and sits down on. Blue crawls onto his lap and starts grooming herself, and Lance leans back on his arms and looks up at the sky. There’s a palm tree that bends just right to block the sun at his current angle, and he can see a few Spearows up in the top of the trees. It is migrating season, so he’s not surprised to see them here. Between the chirps of the birds and the laughter from the ocean, Lance wonders how he’s supposed to believe that this place might ever come under attack from evildoers. It’s so peaceful here, what kind of monster would disturb it?

Lance moves Blue off his lap. Actually, he kind of feels like taking a walk right now. He waves to Hunk and Shiro, and they wave back, and Lance heads off down the beach a bit. It’s not at all like the beaches back home, pristine and ready for tourists, this one is a lot more natural, dotted with sticks and half-eaten coconuts and old shells and…

Lance stops in his tracks and turns towards the water. He squints. Is something out there? But he can’t see anything. He turns towards the dense trees. Maybe something is in there? He feels like he’s being watched. He turns around and realizes that he’s walked a lot further than he planned to. He starts to head back, but he keeps looking over his shoulder, sure that something is following him. Chills go down his spine and he walks backwards.

“Hello?” He calls.

His foot gets tangled in something and with a yelp, he falls back and lands in the sand. He could swear he hears a soft growl as he hits the ground. He tries to jerk his foot free, but he’s good and stuck.

“Easy there!”

Lance yelps again and twists. Keith, of all people, is coming up from behind him.

“You creep!” Lance cries, “How long were you following me for?”

“Following you?” Keith echoes. “No, I was following her.” He points to his feet, where Blue is.

“What the, Blue what are you doing?” Lance asks. His Pokémon hops over to him and lets out a distressed sound.

Keith bends down and grabs the net that Lance’s foot has gotten stuck in. “Shiro said she was pacing, but he and Hunk didn’t want to leave your other Pokémon alone, so he asked me to follow her. Where were you going?”

Lance opens his mouth, then closes it. Then he admits, “I don’t know.”

Keith takes a knife out of his pocket.

“Dear god!” Lance yelps.

“Relax,” Keith says, “I’m gonna cut the net away.” He slices through the net in one smooth motion and Lance jumps to his feet.

“So you were just walking?” Keith asks.

“Yeah,” Lance says. Blue is practically screaming at him. He lifts her up and she twists her head around, back arched and hissing.

“Well that can’t be good,” Keith says.

“She gets like this before an earthquake,” Lance says, stroking her back. “Does this place get earthquakes?”

The ground jolts.

“Jesus!” Lance cries as he stumbles. Even Keith looks shocked.

“We better get back to the others,” Keith says, looking nervous.

They take off at a rapid pace, staying close to the water and far away from the trees. As they get within sight of the other Pokémon, Azurill meets them and runs alongside Lance. Prinplup is clinging to Shiro, and Gyarados and Milotic hover near the shore, looking upset.

“Where did you go?” Hunk demands.

“I just started walking and then I felt like someone was watching me!” Lance says defensively.

“Did you feel the earth move?” Shiro asks.

Lance nods. “Yeah, we did! Do earthquakes often happen here?”

“I’m starting to suspect it wasn’t an earthquake,” Shiro says. “Let’s get back to the gym, maybe Allura can confirm my suspicions.”

Lance calls back his Pokémon, even Blue since she’s so agitated, and the four trainers walk back up to the gym in silence. Even then Lance feels like he’s being watched, and he walks behind the others and keeps looking over his shoulder.

Pidge meets them at the gym entrance. His eyes are wide with excitement. “Did you guys feel that tremor?”

“What tremor?” Lance grumbles, “Where we were it was like a damn explosion!”

“Don’t exaggerate,” Keith says.

Shiro heads further into the building, and everyone follows him. He leads them to a room full of screens and weird machines that look like they came out of a sci-fi movie. Allura and Coran are in the middle of the room, staring at a large screen with some jagged waves moving across it.

“What triggered this?” Allura asks.

Shiro turns to the group behind him. “I think Lance did.”

“Whoa, man,” Lance says, holding up his hands. “I didn’t do anything.”

“No, not on purpose,” Shiro says. “Lance, when you started walking, did you feel like maybe you weren’t in control of yourself?”

Lance shudders. “That’s creepy, dude. How did you know? Were you the one watching me? I felt like I was being watched.”

Shiro turns to Allura, a knowing look in his eyes. “Told you.”

Allura nods. “Lance, there’s something you should know about Kyogre.” She takes a deep breath. “It lives under this island.”

“SAY WHAT?!” Lance yelps.

Allura continues, “That presence you felt, watching you…it was Kyogre. I suspect that it’s calling out to you. It’s been a very, very long time since the person bonded to Kyogre has actually lived here. I think it’s excited.”

“Holy shit,” Lance says. “You might have mentioned that sooner.”

“You weren’t sure you were staying,” Allura says.

“Well now I sure as hell am!” Lance cries, “A giant fucking Legendary whale is living under my feet!”

“Am I the only one freaked out by this?!” Hunk asks, “The ground moved under us! What if Kyogre decides to bust up from under the ground? Will it kill us?!”

“That has never happened,” Allura says. “Kyogre is peaceful, I promise, it doesn’t want to hurt anyone.”

 “You know what, I bet it’s just bored,” Lance says.

Hunk gives Lance an incredulous look. “Bored?”

Lance nods. “I bet it knew I was playing with my Pokémon and wanted to join. I mean, it sounds like it needs to stay hidden a lot, don’t you think it gets tired of that?” He turns to Allura. “Where exactly does it live? I’ll go see it.”

“That’s not advisable at the moment,” Coran says before Allura can even open her mouth. “The seismic activity will definitely garner the attention of our enemies, going to Kyogre’s location will only draw more attention to it. Aside from that, the sun will go down soon and it’s not a journey that one should make in the dark, trust me on that. I’m sure you don’t want to end your first day as an Elite stabbed through the chest with a jagged rock.”

Lance gulps and Hunk looks ready to puke.

“Has that ever actually happened?” Pidge asks.

“Not to an Elite!” Coran says proudly, “So let’s not make Lance the first, okay?” He chuckles. “Let’s not have Lance get lanced!”

“Okay that was lame,” Lance says.

Keith snorts and tries to cover it with a cough. Lance glowers at him.

“Besides, it’s nearly dinner time,” Coran says. “Aren’t you kids hungry?”

Hunk grumbles. “How did he figure out my weakness so quickly?”

 

Rain starts to fall as everyone sits in the formal dining room. Lance looks out at the raindrops pelting against the glass and feels a sort of humming under his skin, a restless kind of energy. The longer he focuses on it, the more convinced he is that it’s Kyogre calling out to him.

“For dinner tonight!” Coran yells, startling Lance out his thoughts, “We have pineapple chicken, grilled veggies, and spaghetti.” He uncovers the dishes and takes a seat at the table.

“Holy cow,” Hunk says as he serves himself, “Okay, this beats campfire dinners any day of the week.”

Allura chuckles. “Is the promise of food enough to make you decide to stay?”

Hunk takes a bite of the chicken and sighs. “Perhaps.”

Allura looks over at Pidge. “And you? Have you decided what you wish to do?”

“Oh, I’m staying,” Pidge says. “I decided that the moment you told me that I made it in here. This is all I’ve ever wanted out of my life.”

Shiro says, “You know Pidge, I think you may have beaten my record.”

“Which one?” Pidge asks.

“For being the youngest member of the Elites,” Shiro says. “How old are you?”

“Fifteen.”

Lance chokes on his food. Even Hunk stops eating to stare at Pidge in shock.

“Fifteen?” Allura says. “Well, yes, that would make you the youngest!”

Pidge goes absolutely white and looks like he might faint. “Oh, god,” he mutters.

“Are you okay?” Shiro asks.

“Yes! No! I don’t know!” Pidge cries, hands in his hair. “Oh my god…oh, sweet mother of Zapdos…”

“Why are you panicking?” Lance asks hoarsely, blinking tears from his eyes. “Aren’t you happy?” He reaches for his water glass, intent on dislodging the spaghetti from his throat.

“I’m freaking out!” Pidge says, flapping his hands. “I don’t know what to do now!”

“Dude, chill,” Hunk says.

“I can’t chill!” Pidge cries, leaping from his seat. “I have to tell all of you something, well not you Shiro you know already, I’m…I’m a girl!”

Lance chokes for the second time and water comes out of his nose.

“Oh,” Hunk says.

Lance grabs a napkin and dabs at his face. “I was sure you were a guy!”

“Well, that was the whole point,” Pidge says, looking at Allura nervously. “I’m still in, right? You’re not kicking me out?”

“Of course not,” Allura says. “Why would I?”

Pidge sits in his—her seat again, and tears fill her eyes. “When my older brother passed his test to be a Pokémon trainer two weeks after he turned 13, he was the youngest person to do so. Everyone said he was a genius, ahead of his time, they said he would do great things and be incredible. I passed the test, written, physical, mental, two weeks BEFORE I turned 13. But there’s no record of it, because the examiners threw out my results and told me that I was too young to be out alone. They said a little girl had no business going out into the world alone. And people agreed with them! My aunts and uncles, my friends, they all said it was too dangerous for me.”

Lance gapes at Pidge. “That’s…wow. Holy shit.”

Pidge nods and wipes her eyes. “I didn’t even care that people didn’t acknowledge my achievements, I cared that they saw me as less than my brother because I had the audacity to be born with a uterus. Because when a boy goes on a Pokémon journey, no one worries about him sleeping in a tent on the side of a road. No one gives him pepper spray instead of Beedrill repellant. No one tells him that he can only go if he stays in a group. They encourage him to talk to strangers! They tell girls to keep away from people, to go inside at night. Even my mother said I might have been too young. My dad was the one who took me to get my hair cut, who said I could dye it, and that I could take the test again, use another name. He helped me forge identification papers, not that you heard that from me. When I passed, for the second time, he gave me my camping gear and told me to go be brilliant.”

“That sounds like your dad,” Shiro says, passing Pidge a napkin. “Have you spoken to him?”

“Not yet,” Pidge says, pausing to blow her nose. “When I told him that I was coming here, he said that you would probably recognize me, because you trained with him and he told you about me.”

“It’s true, I did recognize you,” Shiro says.

“You didn’t say anything,” Pidge says.

“It wasn’t my place. Pidge…Katie, whoever you want to be, that has to come from you.”

“Aw, man,” Lance says, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m so sorry about all that shit you went through.”

Pidge clears her throat. “Yeah, well…I’m still not sure I want it to be public knowledge that I’m a girl.” She looks over at Allura. “Did you ever have someone assume you were easier to beat because you’re a girl?”

“All the time,” Allura says. “Even now. It’s not every day, not even every week, but it still happens, and it burns me.”

Pidge sighs, “Then I guess, for now, I’d prefer if people coming into the gym think I’m a boy. At least until I build up a reputation.”

“That’s entirely up to you, then,” Allura says. “Would you like us to continue to call you Pidge and use male pronouns around you?”

“Pidge, yes. Pronouns, I really don’t care, if it’s easier to think of me as a boy so you don’t slip up in public, then sure.”

Coran stands up. “You know, this might be a good time to contact your parents. Would you like to use our video phone?”

Pidge nods and gets to her feet. “I think after that I’m just…going to go lie down.”

Allura stands as well and holds her hand out. “If you need anything, let us know. We’re still in this together, Pidge.”

Pidge takes Allura’s hand and smiles at her, then follows Coran out of the room.

“Wow,” Lance says. “That’s so…damn. My sisters were all older when they left home but…I wonder if it was the same for them.”

“Probably,” Allura says with a sigh. “It’s true, things are different for girls. I wish it wasn’t true, but it is. Even my father could sometimes be overprotective, simply because I wasn’t a boy.”

Dinner passes in silence after that. Coran comes back and insists on clearing the table himself, saying that the trainers all need to get their rest if they want to hike out to see Kyogre at some point tomorrow.

Lance goes to his room and shoves his clothes into the dresser and arranges his family pictures on his desk. He hears a drumming sound and is confused as to where it’s coming from, until he looks out the window and realizes that it’s raining even harder. He can only tell because the light in his room reflects off the water droplets, there aren’t exactly any streetlights on the mountain. Lance sits on the floor and leans against the glass, watching the rain drops race down the smooth surface. After what seems like only a little while the rain stops, and then Lance feels another tremor.

‘Kyogre,’ he thinks. The Legendary must be really agitated now. Lance starts to feel a tingling under his skin and he shudders and gets to his feet. He leaves his room and starts walking, eventually finding a door that leads outside and to a covered porch. He steps outside and shivers. He feels like he’s being watched again.

He finds a semi-dry chair and sits on it, grabbing the arms purposefully, as if by holding them it’ll keep him from wandering off to find Kyogre himself. Coran and Allura said it was dangerous, but isn’t it more dangerous to let Kyogre continue to cause earthquakes?

Lance suddenly smells something smoky and wonders if lightning started a fire somewhere, but then he sees a soft glow from inside. The door slides open and a Flareon bounds out, leaving trails of steam where its paws hit the wet ground.

“I thought you’d be here,” Keith says, poking his head out the door.

“Well, you found me,” Lance says. He looks at the Flareon. “Yours?”

Keith nods. “It led me here, seemed to know that this was where I needed to be.”

“Needed?” Lance echoes. If Keith is implying that Lance needs him, he’s got another thing coming.

“You felt the earth move, didn’t you?” Keith asks. “Allura and Coran may think it’s dangerous now, but I disagree. I think it would be better for you to go find Kyogre now, rather than risk bigger quakes as the night goes on.”

“Well, good for you,” Lance says dryly, “I don’t know where I’m going though, so unless you can convince Allura—”

“Don’t have to,” Keith says. “I know the way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things you may have missed in all the action but are details that I love and want you to love:  
> Coran implied that some people actually have been stabbed through the chest by the rocks  
> “let’s not have Lance get lanced”


	3. Shadow Over You

Keith takes Lance to the supply room, where there’s enough junk to keep the Elites alive through the apocalypse. Keith fills a backpack with some hiking gear, and Lance grabs a pack of his own and packs some hiking equipment, and a few surprises.

“Coran said this was dangerous to do in the dark,” Lance says as Keith leads him out of the building. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“We’re not going to be hiking in the dark,” Keith says. He takes a pokeball from his belt and throws it up in the air, and a Castform pops out.

“I thought they take form depending on weather,” Lance says.

Keith smiles as his Castform floats around him. “They do, but it’s for protection. If they trust that they’ll be safe, they help their trainers in return.” Keith pats the Pokémon’s head. “All right buddy, I need some light.”

Just like that, Castform’s head transforms, expanding, changing color, and it emits a bright light that illuminates a good ten-foot wide area around it.

“That’s pretty cool,” Lance says.

Keith takes a compass from his pocket. “Let’s get moving, we have to go north.”

So begins the hike. Even with Castform’s light, it’s a pretty difficult walk. The ground is slippery with wet leaves and mud, and Coran’s words ring in Lance’s ear.

“Are you sure this is safe?” He calls to Keith. “What if Kyogre triggers an earthquake while we’re out here?!” He cries, stopping in his tracks.

“It won’t,” Keith says, “It doesn’t want to hurt you, it wants your attention.”

“How do you know?” Lance asks.

Keith sighs. “If you’re going to keep being a worrywart, this is going to be a very long walk.”

“Worrywart?” Lance echoes, “Who even says that word?”

“I do,” Keith says. “Now save your breath, we’ve got rocks to climb.”

They round a bend and come face-to-face a steep incline.

“Can’t we go around?” Lance asks.

“If you want to delay the walk by an hour,” Keith says with a shrug.

Lance grits his teeth. “Alright, fine.”

Keith hands Lance a pair of gloves. Lance has been hiking before, but not up wet rocks in the dark. He keeps his focus on the next immediate step, not daring to look up or down. It’s not hot, but he sweats something fierce, from exertion and nerves. It’s a good thing there are no more tremors, they would probably send him tumbling down the incline.

“How are we getting back?” Lance calls to Keith.

“Same way,” Keith says.

Lance groans. He wishes he had a Dragonite, but he’s never even been able to catch a Dratini. He resolves to find one and evolve it. Especially if this hike to the Kyogre’s cave is going to be a thing he’ll have to do to keep earthquakes from happening. Lance finally stumbles on to even ground and flings himself down in the mud, gasping for air.

“How high up are we?” He pants.

“Maybe 300 feet above sea level?” Keith says, digging a water bottle out of his bag.

“How thin is the oxygen?”

“Oh my god,” Keith says, deadpan. “The oxygen is fine.”

Lance glares. “Well how was I supposed to know that?”

Keith rolls his eyes. “It’s 300 feet, not 3,000.” He stands up and brushes off his pants. “We’ve only been walking for an hour, you know.”

Lance gets to his feet and kicks at a pile of leaves. “Freaking stupid—HOLY SHIT!” He backs away from the wriggling, yellow mass that exits the leaf pile he just kicked.

“It’s just a colony of Joltik,” Keith says, kneeling and examining the tiny bug Pokémon. Castform floats over them, giving them some light. The Joltik wave their front arms at Castform, and Lance sways on his feet and closes his eyes.

“Can we go?”

Keith chuckles. “You’re not scared of them, are you?”

“Only en mass,” Lance says. “Ever had a jar of them dumped down your shirt? It’s not fun.” He opens his eyes and sees Keith looking at him with pity.

“Who did that?” Keith asks as they start walking again.

“Bobby Flagherty,” Lance says.

“Oh man,” Keith says, shuddering, “I remember that kid. Damn, that’s some fucked up shit.”

“Oh, you remember him but not me?” Lance asks.

Keith shrugs. “I remember weird things. I don’t think I really saw you much after I got adopted and, well, I try not to think about the time before that.”

Lance does remember that Keith was an orphan, and he got picked on quite a lot for it.

“Actually,” Keith continues, “I kind of remember you sticking up for me. If we were rivals, why did you do that?”

“Because I’m not heartless?” Lance says. “I mean, I didn’t like you because you were better than me at everything, picking on someone because of their life circumstances is just horrible.”

Keith smiles. “Aww, that’s…kind of sweet.”

Lance clears his throat. “Yeah well…I’m still your rival, okay? Especially since you joined the Elite before me. I’m going to best you in this gym, so look out.”

“How come you didn’t apply for the Elite team sooner?” Keith asks. “You might have been picked.”

“I was chasing my Milotic,” Lance says.

“Chasing?”

Lance nods. “It was feral, kind of. People said that someone had dumped it out of the back of a truck one night, and it had a metal collar on its neck. Lots of people tried to help it, but it attacked all of them, so after a while people stopped trying to get close to it. But they still kept an eye on it, and they could tell that it wasn’t doing well. So I heard about it and decided to see if I couldn’t wrangle it.”

“That sounds both very brave and very stupid,” Keith says.

“That is exactly what Hunk told me, and in case you haven’t noticed, brave and stupid are words I live by,” Lance says proudly. “I spent a week sailing around on my Lapras, diving with my Gyarados, and wandering the shores with Blue to find Milotic, and I finally found it curled up on the rocks in a cave. It took me three hours to get close enough to see the collar, and it was so rusted and busted up that I was able to just snap it off with my bare hands.” Lance’s voice breaks and he blinks back sudden tears. “Milotic just…it put its head in my lap and it cried. It had so many scrapes and gashes on it…it still has scars. I always wonder what kind of hell it went through.”

Lance suddenly realizes that Keith is no longer next to him. He turns around; Keith is a few paces behind him, his face white.

“What?” Lance asks.

Keith clears his throat. “Just, um…you know I’m a fire type trainer but I do have one Pokémon in my battle team that’s…not a fire type. It’s a Mightyena and…I found it much the same way you found your Milotic. It was collared and roughed up, and it didn’t trust anyone.” He looks down at his hands. “I got close to it when it was too weak to run from anyone. I broke the collar off with a bolt cutter and it…it cried, too.”

Lance sways on his feet for the second time that night, feeling both lightheaded and like he could break someone’s face with his bare hands.

“It can’t be a coincidence,” Lance growls. “Someone is dumping Pokémon, abused Pokémon.”

“Probably the same people who want the Legendaries,” Keith says. “It sounds like the kind of thing they would do, but I’ve never battled them and Mightyena was the only Pokémon I had ever found like that. I had no idea there were others, so I didn’t put it together until now.”

Lance pounds his fist into his palm. “Well I hope they pick a fight with me, I’m going to teach those punks a lesson they won’t soon forget.”

Keith shakes himself. “Oh yeah, I’m sure they’ll be very threatened by you,” he snaps. “Use your head, will you? Those people are monsters, they won’t be scared of you or me or any of our Pokémon.” He starts walking again. “Come on, we’re almost there.”

Lance walks after Keith, wondering just what the heck Keith’s issue is. Just when Lance thinks they might be able to get along, Keith goes and makes himself as unfriendly as possible.

They walk the rest of the way in silence, Lance trailing a few steps behind Keith, until Keith suddenly stops in front of an unassuming hole in the side of the mountain.

“Well, here we are,” Keith says, pointing to the hole.

The opening is maybe three feet wide and five feet high. Lance peers into the darkness. Castform floats over and hovers near the opening, and all Lance sees is wet rocks.

“You’re kidding me,” Lance says.

Keith shakes his head. “This is the Cave of Origin, where Kyogre lives. Now go on, bonded trainers first.”

“Gee, thanks,” Lance says. He ducks as he enters and tries to stand up, only for his head to hit solid rock. “God fucking—” Lance cries, rubbing his head. He fumbles with his bag and pulls out a flashlight. He has to walk hunched over, and he grumbles that Keith might have warned him. After a few yards the cave widens out and up, and Lance straightens. He turns in a circle, looking at the walls and the path in front of him.

“So where is it?” Lance calls back to Keith.

Keith is squinting at a map. “Um…below us. I think.” He ducks into the cave and pushes Lance aside, looking around.

“You think?” Lance says. “Hang on, have you ever actually been here before?”

“Well, I never went inside—”

“You have no idea what you’re doing, do you?!” Lance cries. “Oh, fantastic! I knew this was a bad idea!” He smacks his hand against a large rock, and suddenly the rock starts glowing.

Lance screams, Keith screams, and they both leap back as the glow takes the form of an eye. An eye that has been carved into the rock.

“Oh,” Keith says, leaning close to the carving. “It’s an Unknown.”

Soon more carvings begin to glow, and they take the shape of many different Pokémon. They also lead further into the cave. Lance gulps and points into the dark.

“I guess we should follow them?”

Keith nods. He holds out a pokeball and his Castform returns, and Keith and Lance both have to navigate with only their flashlights and the carvings. They walk for a few minutes, and suddenly the carvings take a sharp dip downwards.

Keith yells, “Watch out!” And grabs Lance’s arm just before Lance’s foot falls into a hole in the ground. Once Lance is steady, he aims his flashlight down the hole. He can’t see the bottom, but he can tell that there are more carvings along the tunnel.

“Think we should jump?” Lance asks.

“Hell, no,” Keith says, “But I’m not sure we have a choice.” He picks up a rock and drops it down the hole, it lands after a few seconds with a splash.

“So there’s water down there,” Lance says. He cups his hands around his mouth. “ANYONE HOME?!”

“Are you out of your mind?!” Keith hisses, but Lance claps a hand over his mouth.

“Did you hear that?” Lance tilts his head towards the hole. Yes, he’s sure he just heard a voice whisper his name.

Lance takes off his shoes and shoves them into his bag. “I’m going in,” he says. He drops the bag down first, screams, “TALLY-HO!” And jumps into the hole, flashlight pointing down at the water.

Lance falls for all of four seconds before he hits the surface of the water and goes under. The lake he’s landed in is pretty darn deep, and even with the flashlight in his hands, he can’t see much in the water. He flails, finds the strap of his backpack, and hauls it up to the surface with him. He sees the shore and swims for it, dragging his bag with him.

A few seconds later Keith hits the water, but he still has his backpack on. Lance is not about to let his rival drown, so he leaves his bag on the shore and dives into the water for Keith.

“Idiot,” Lance says as he drags Keith along, awkwardly trying to do the front crawl with one arm, “Don’t you know better than to jump in the water with all that excess weight?”

Keith sputters. Lance assumes he means ‘no.’

They get to the shore and drag themselves from the water. Keith coughs and Lance thumps his back hard enough to send him to his knees. Lance holds back a snort, looking around the cavern they’ve fallen into. The hole they fell from is a good two stories up, the cave itself probably takes up an area of a square mile, and the water is unfathomable deep. And, now that Lance is thinking about it, that water was really warm.

“Hello?” Lance calls. “Where are you, Kyogre?”

There’s a second of silence, then the water starts bubbling in the middle of the lake. A soft blue glow illuminates the surface of the water, and it glows brighter and brighter until the water breaks and a bright blue fin rises from the lake, followed by Kyogre’s body, and finally its face.

“Whoa,” Lance whispers. He has no idea how something that big could possibly float that far out of the water.

‘ _Magic_ ,’ a deep voice in his head whispers, one that is most certainly not his own.

“Can you read my mind?!” Lance cries.

The voice chuckles. Lance turns to Keith, who is staring wide-eyed at Kyogre. “Can you hear it, too?” Lance asks him.

Keith shakes his head.

“I can change that,” the voice says.

“Holy crap!” Keith and Lance yell at the same time, whirling back to look at Kyogre. Kyogre’s mouth doesn’t move, how is it talking?

“How are you talking?” Lance asks.

“Magic,” Kyogre says again.

“Are you teasing me?” Lance asks.

The Pokémon chuckles. Chuckles!

Keith says, “You’re awfully nice for someone who sent earthquakes through the island.”

Kyogre actually looks a little sheepish. “I would never have made them strong enough to do damage. I just knew someone was here for me and, well, I wanted to see them.” The great Pokémon’s eyes fixate on Lance. “I wanted to see you.”

“I knew it!” Lance cries, pumping his fist in the air. “I knew you just wanted to have some fun.”

“I really did,” Kyogre says longingly. “I’ve never sensed someone quite like you before. All trainers I bond with have a connection to water Pokémon and to the ocean, but you…you are exceptional. I’ve never met someone who was so devoted to the fun of training water Pokémon.”

“If you want fun, I am your guy!” Lance cries. He grabs all his pokeballs and throws them up in the air. When his Pokémon emerge, they all take three steps back from Kyogre, gazing up at the Legendary with awe in their eyes. Lance strips off his shirt and jeans, ignoring Keith’s cry of ‘what the heck’ and rummages through his backpack. He pulls out a bucket and a water gun, and suddenly realizes that Kyogre is far too big to play with them.

“Ah, crap,” Lance says. “Well, let’s make the best of it.” He jumps into the water, bucket and water gun in hand, and swims over to Kyogre. He treads water in front of it, bucket handle clenched between his teeth, and fills the water gun.

“Now don’t attack me,” Lance mumbles around the handle, “This is just for fun.” He aims the water gun at Kyogre and squirts it. A trickle of water hits the Pokémon’s skin, and it laughs.

“That tickled!” Kyogre says.

“Holy crap, you’re adorable!” Lance says, spitting the bucket floating out of his mouth. “Okay, so now that you know what kind of pressure I’m looking for…” He looks at Keith. “Hey catch this!” He flings the water gun away and Keith barely manages to get a hold of it. Lance turns back to Kyogre and grabs the bucket. “Now you shoot, and I’ll try and catch the water in this bucket.”

Kyogre’s mouth dips below the water, and the ripple from the movement makes Lance bob about unsteadily. The trickle of water that Kyogre shoots from its mouth completely misses the bucket and hits Lance square in the face. Lance sputters. Kyogre laughs, but on the next try, it squirts the water right into the bucket. Lance whoops loudly, the sound echoing around the cavern. He holds the bucket high over his head, swimming this way and that, catching the water that Kyogre squirts at him.

Perhaps sensing that fun is happening is enough to make Lance’s Pokémon braver. Blue takes a running jump off the shoreline and paddles her way out to Lance and Kyogre. She swims right up to Kyogre and scrambles up onto its front flipper.

“Hello, little one,” Kyogre says, sounding pleasantly surprised. Blue trills and rubs her face against Kyogre’s.

“She likes you,” Lance says.

“She’s special,” Kyogre says. “And she adores you.”

“How do you know?” Lance asks.

“She told me,” Kyogre answers. “She said that you are a wonderful trainer, and she adores you. She’s not speaking to me with your human words, more like images, but I know what they mean.”

Lance feels like his heart is going to implode. “Oh…oh, wow, Blue…” He’s struck with an idea. “Can you talk to all Pokémon like that?”

“I can,” Kyogre says.

Lance spins to face the shore, and he can tell that Keith is having the same thoughts he is. Lance calls out, “Milotic, come here baby!”

Keith walks to the shore with Milotic, patting its side as it slips into the water. It swims up to Lance and scoops him up, and Lance sits astride it as it approaches Kyogre cautiously.

“Milotic has had a rough life,” Lance tells Kyogre. “Can you ask it if they’re okay? And tell them that I love them, and I won’t let anything bad happen to them.”

Kyogre fixes an eye on Milotic. Milotic swims closer and nuzzles its head. For a while there is only silence. The Lance hears a whimper, and he realizes that it’s his Milotic. He crawls up the Pokémon’s body and rubs it’s neck.

“Is it okay?” Lance asks.

“He’s fine now,” Kyogre says. “Just grateful to have told some his suffering, and to have a trainer like you.”

Lance makes a note of the gender. “Someone hurt him really badly, didn’t they?”

“Yes,” Kyogre says, and it chills Lance to hear the anger in its voice. “Horrible people who forced it to attack weaker Pokémon even after they surrendered. It goes against the nature of all Pokémon to fight unfairly, they battle for sport and a show of strength, not brutality, but those people caused pain to Milotic when it refused to fight. When it refused to obey, it was abandoned.”

Lance starts crying. Milotic cranes his neck around, and gently nuzzles Lance’s cheek.

“Poor baby,” Lance sobs, hugging Milotic tightly. “I’m so sorry you went through that. I’ll never hurt you, I swear.”

“He knows,” Kyogre says gently. “He knows that you love him. He wanted me to tell you his gender, and to ask you to help him find a mate. He never thought he would want one, but he knows because of you how wonderful the world can be, and he wants to share it with you, and one of his own kind.”

Lance nods and wipes his eyes. “I’ll do my best, buddy.”

Kyogre shifts and a small wave rocks Milotic and Lance. They back away.

“You there,” Kyogre says, “You are upset.”

Lance turns towards the shore. Keith has tears in his eyes. Lance calls for Blue, catches her as she leaps, and has Milotic swim them all back to shore. He sits next to Keith (and is very glad that his boxers are black and not see-through at the moment). All of Lance’s Pokémon, even Gyarados, have gathered around Keith and are trying to comfort him.

Keith closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “Can you…can you talk to all Pokémon?” He asks Kyogre.

“I can,” Kyogre says.

Keith fumbles for a pokeball. “I have one, like Milotic, who was abused…can you try to talk to it?”

“Of course,” Kyogre says. “Please, let me see it.”

Keith tosses the ball into the air. He stands up to help steady the Mightyena that emerges from it, and Lance soon sees why. The Mightyena’s front right leg is gone; from the shoulder down there is nothing but air.

“It was infected,” Keith says, noticing where Lance is looking. “The limb was nearly dead. To try and heal it…it was a tiny chance that it would ever function like a normal leg, and Red’s survival chances were better with amputation.”

“Red?” Lance repeats, “That’s its name?”

“It’s always been my favorite color,” Keith says, “And it fits in with my fire types.”

Lance shakes his head. “You’re a nerd.”

Kyogre has been communicating silently with Red, and when it speaks again it has that same barely-contained rage. “This one was indeed abused by the same people who hurt Milotic. The tactics are the same, though neither recall specific faces.”

Lance burns with anger. “They have to be stopped.”

“I know,” Keith says sharply, “But what will the cost be? Look at what those people are capable of! Can you imagine what would happen to Blue if they got their hands on her? They’re not above playing that kind of dirty. I can’t risk the lives of my Pokémon, the team that places their trust in me!”

“You are not alone,” Kyogre says. “If you ever find those people, call upon the ones you have bonded with, and pass that message along to your friends, as well. This is a crime against all Pokémon, one that cannot be allowed to continue. Do not engage them unless they make an attack, but search for clues about them.”

“To do that, we need to go back,” Keith says. “And maybe we should go now. The night is going on and we have a long walk back.”

“I can help,” Kyogre says. “Now that you found me and have my trust, I can reveal to you a secret path to my home.” The Pokémon dips below the water, and a jet of bubbles spring from below the surface. They float around the room, and eventually get sucked towards one side of the cave, and disappear into a crevice. Lance grabs his flashlight and shines it on the wall. There’s a small opening, and beyond it, stairs.

“The stairs will take you to within a mile of the gym,” Kyogre says. “In the future, you will be able to use this tunnel to see me.”

“Awesome!” Lance cries. He drops to his knees and bellows, “SECRET TUNNEL, THROUGH THE MOUNTAIN!!!” Blue howls, Azurill trills, and even Gyarados roars along.

“What the hell?” Keith asks.

“C’mon, Avatar, the Last Airbender? Didn’t you watch it? It was an awesome cartoon?”

Keith looks confused. “I saw the live action movie…”

Lance shrieks. “NO! Oh my god, you have been deprived, I need to show it to you!” He has all his Pokémon return to their pokeballs, he redresses and puts his shoes on, and he turns to Kyogre.

“I’ll be back,” Lance promises, “I’ll come visit you and play with you. And I’ll find the monsters that abuse Pokémon, and I’ll make Keith watch cartoons.” He pumps his fist in the air. “A new day dawns, a new mission awaits! Off we go! TALLY-HO!” And he takes off running for the stairs, Keith screaming at him to _wait up_.

 

When Lance and Keith make it back to the gym, dawn is just breaking. Keith inputs a security code and the doors slide open. Lance staggers inside, mumbling that he needs coffee and a bagel. Keith leads Lance to the kitchen, and they discover that they are not the only ones awake—Allura is making tea, and she looks appalled at Keith and Lance.

“You’re filthy!” She cries. “Where on Earth have you been?”

Lance and Keith glance at each other and sigh. Explaining this is going to be fun.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things you may have missed in all the action but are details that I love and want you to love:  
> Keith has no idea how to jump down a hole, land in the water, and survive. He’s a dork.  
> Lance sang the "secret tunnel" song and says "TALLY-HO"  
> “Maybe 300 feet above sea level?” “How thin is the oxygen?”


	4. The Opposite of Amnesia

Lance has been a part of the Hoenn Elite for a week, and he thinks he’ll never get used to sight of Shiro in the early morning, sitting at the table with sleep-tousled hair, and a Skitty in his lap drinking the milk out of his cereal bowl.

“You are a mess of oxymorons, my friend,” Lance says, slumping over the table and reaching for the coffee pot. “I saw you bench press Pidge yesterday. Today you have a pink fluffball stealing your breakfast.”

Shiro chuckles and scratches his Skitty behind its ears. “What can I say, I’m a softie at heart.”

Hunk enters the room, and asks around a yawn, “What’s on the agenda for today?”

“Well, Allura wants our help on more of those reports she got,” Shiro says, “And apparently there’s more coming in.”

Lance bangs his forehead against the table. Ever since he and Keith told the rest of the team about what happened with Kyogre and the very real possibility that Pokémon were being abused and formed into an army, Allura had been on the warpath. Rightfully so, but if Lance has to read another police report about a starving, feral, half-dead Pokémon being found abandoned, he’s going to go drown himself in Kyogre’s grotto. He’s getting _depressed_. But for the moment, he reaches for the sugar and pours it into his coffee. He’s going to need it to get through this. Technically he’s on the battle roster for today, but as long as there are no challengers, Lance will be sorting through files with the others.

Once Lance has eaten, dressed himself, and gathered his battle team, he heads to the trainer’s joint office to join the others for paperwork, but a shout from down the hall stops him.

“We have challengers!” Coran yells. “Elites, prepare yourselves!”

Lance lets out a shout of joy and changes course for the gym. This will only be his third battle since joining the team.

 

Lance waits anxiously in the water gym, watching Milotic swim in circles around him. The gym has various platforms placed in the water, some of which are stationary, like the giant stone pillars, and others which float freely. Last time Lance had a battle in this gym he damn near fell off one of the floating platforms when Gyarados swam by, and he _did_ fall off when Gyarados used thrash. It’s a pretty risky gym to be battling in, but Lance loves a little risk.

Today’s challengers are Shay and Rax, a sibling duo who battle with rock and psychic types. Surely, they are smart enough not to send rock types to battle in a water gym, so Lance needs to be on his toes. The trainers enter the gym and Lance stands at attention, but he’s thrown for a loop when they enter with Hunk.

“Buddy, what’s going on?” Lance calls.

Hunk shrugs. “They’re good trainers, I’m here to watch.”

Lance looks at Shay. She’s blushing, and her brother is glaring daggers at Hunk. Lance mutters that he’s going to have words with his friend later.

“Alright, enough chatter,” Rax snaps, “Let’s get this show on the road.” He throws a pokeball in the air, and out pops a Chandelure. Lance mutters a curse, he wasn’t expecting ghost or fire types. Shay calls out a Gothitelle.

Coran’s voice echoes through the gym over the loudspeaker. “Trainers, this is a timed battle. You have twenty minutes, at the end of the time if you have defeated more Pokémon than Lance has, you will win. Lance is allowed to use two Pokémon, while each challenger may only call out one at a time. Should you choose to use an electric type Pokémon, strikes at empty water are prohibited.”

Lance calls out his Sharpedo, and it joins Milotic in the water.

“Ready,” Coran calls, “BEGIN!”

Rax wastes no time and orders Chandelure to use confuse ray on Sharpedo. Lance orders both his Pokémon to use evasive maneuvers. Shay tells Gothitelle to get as close to Milotic as it can. As soon as Gothitelle lands on a floating platform, Milotic pops up behind it and shoots it with his water-gun attack, then dives before he can be hit with Gothitelle’s double slap attack.

Meanwhile, Sharpedo is swerving under and around the platforms while Chandelure floats above it, shooting fireballs at Sharpedo each time it tries to surface. Lance isn’t used to battling against two trainers at once, he manages to guide his Pokémon into getting in a few good hits. Gothitelle gets knocked out of the battle, but so does Sharpedo. Shay calls out a Gallade, and Lance calls out Azurill.

Before Lance can order any kind of attack, Milotic suddenly begins to thrash in the water. He rears up out of the water, screeching and shaking his head around, and a hyper beam shoots from his mouth, hitting Chandelure and Gallade, and grazing Azurill.

“MILOTIC, STOP!” Lance screams.

The Pokémon dives into the water and curls himself into a corner of the pool. Lance drops his pokeball vest and dives into the water. Something is desperately wrong with his Pokémon. He swims up to Milotic and sees that he’s shaking. Lance reaches for him, and Milotic bares his teeth and hisses. Lance recoils and swims to the surface, and yelps as a loud, wailing siren echoes around the gym.

“BATTLE OVER!” Coran shouts. “Elites, battle stations, we are under attack, this is not a drill!”

Lance swims to the dock, grabs his vest, and forces Milotic back into his pokeball. Things are starting to come together in Lance’s mind, and he has a pretty good idea of who’s behind the attack. He leaps from platform to platform and barrels past Rax and Shay. Hunk is trying to get them to go hide, and from the brief bit of shouting that Lance overhears, neither trainer is having it.

Lance runs from the gym and nearly collides with Keith, the next trainer that Shay and Rax would’ve had to face, in the hallway. Together they start running down the hall.

“Is it the people we’ve been looking for?” Lance yells over the continuous sires.

“I’d bet money on it!” Keith yells back.

They burst through the door at the end of the hall and duck as a bolt of lightning comes at them. The entry to the gym is filled with smoke, and through it Lance can just make out Allura, Shiro, and Pidge as they battle against three trainers, each of whom wears a purple uniform, and each of whom look like they mean bad business, judging by the smirks on their faces. Lance calls out his Slowbro and Keith calls out his Flareon.

“Slowbro, use confusion!” Lance orders.

“Flareon, flame thrower, now!”

Allura yells, “Don’t let them get past the entrance!”

Slowbro dodges an attack from an Arbok, and Lance finds himself eye-to-eye with one of the attacking trainers.

“You’re the newbie,” the trainer sneers. He grabs Lance by his collar, and lifts him into the air. Lance thrashes and scratches the other trainer’s hand, but the trainer simply says, “You’re not worth our time,” and throws him through the busted-out door.

Lance flies fifteen feet and rolls a good ten more before he comes to a halt, his shoulder aching where he landed on it, and it takes Lance a while to process what happened. A human being, a person not much more buff than Shiro, picked him up and _threw_ him fifteen feet. Lance gets to his feet with difficulty, and wonders just what the hell they’re up against.

As Lance stands, he sees an Arcanine running around to the back of the building. None of the Elites have an Arcanine, so it must belong to the attackers. Lance runs after it, skidding on mud and wet leaves and not being sneaky at all, and he chases the Pokémon to the back-up generator.

“Stop!” Lance shouts.

The Arcanine skids to a halt and whirls around, snarling. Lance reaches for a pokeball and freezes. There’s a familiar looking metal collar on the Arcanine’s neck. Lance’s blood runs cold.

“Oh, no,” he gasps.

Arcanine bares its teeth and lashes its tail. Lance holds out his hands and gets to his knees.

“It’s okay,” Lance says softly. “It’s okay, I won’t hurt you.”

The Pokémon goes still.

“That’s right, baby,” Lance coos, “You don’t want to do this, do you?”

The Arcanine tilts its head to the side and sniffs the air curiously. It’s a young looking thing, and it’s very thin. Lance takes a treat from his vest, one that Blue really likes. Arcanine starts to drool.

“Here, baby,” Lance says tossing the treat to the Pokémon. It pounces on the treat and gobbles it down. It looks up at Lance and wags its tail, yelping happily, and then there’s a crackle of energy and the Arcanine yelps in pain, bucking as electricity sparks across the collar.

Lance doesn’t think twice about leaping forward and wrapping his fingers around the metal collar. A shock goes through his fingers and up his arm, and he yanks his hands back with a cry of pain. Arcanine howls and shakes its head, trying to dislodge the collar.

Lance can’t bring out one of his own Pokémon, the water will only escalate the situation. He hears footsteps behind him and yells, without caring if it is friend or foe approaching, “Don’t attack! Don’t hurt it! It’s being forced!”

Arcanine turns, body jerking, towards the generator. It exhales fire and misses the generator, burning the grass nearby. Lance can tell that it’s fighting against what it was ordered to do. Determined to help, Lance grits his teeth and launches himself at the Arcanine, knocking it to the side, rolling over and over, away from the generator. He pins the Pokémon under his body, wraps his fingers around the collar, and pulls as hard as he can. Arcanine howls, Lance screams, and electricity crackles around the collar. Lance refuses to let go of it, he can hardly feel his hands, but he’s not going to let this poor Pokémon suffer any longer, he’s going to get this collar off if it kills him, and it just might. He can’t see anymore, but he’ll get the collar off, he will, he will, he will…

The collar breaks apart. Lance falls to the side, his body limp and rattled. Something smells singed. Lance opens his eyes, but everything is fuzzy. Arcanine whimpers in pain, and Lance reaches for it. His hand, his hand looks…

Lance blacks out.

 

 

Lance wakes up slowly. First he becomes aware of two warm bodies on either side of him. He knows one is Blue, because he can feel her grooming his sideburns. He’s not sure what the other thing is, but it seems to have fur, so it can’t be one of his Pokémon. Next, Lance registers a steady beeping sound, the smell of smoke, and a heavy feeling on his hands. He tries to lift them, and a dull ache shoots through his arms, traveling through his very bones. He groans.

“Are you finally awake?”

Lance blinks his eyes open. “Keith?” He asks hoarsely.

“About time,” Keith says, leaning over him. “You’re an idiot, do you know that? You damn near killed yourself. You’re so lucky that Shay got to you when she did, that she got help as quickly as she did! You’re lucky Shiro has healing Pokémon, you’re lucky that Allura and Coran have the technology to treat electrical burns, you’re lucky I don’t smother you with a pillow right fucking now, do you have any idea how scared we all were?!”

“Don’t fucking swear in front of Blue,” Lance says, glaring, “And just what the hell is going on?”

Keith snarls, “Your hands, Lance!”

Lance cranes his neck and looks down at his hands. They’re wrapped in a thick layer of gauze. At the same time Lance sees that the other body he felt was that of Arcanine, curled up next to him. The battle comes back to Lance, and he remembers the pain of the electrical shocks. He gasps and sits up, and the room spins.

“What happened?” Lance asks, squeezing his eyes shut and fighting down a wave of nausea. “Is anyone else hurt?”

Keith shakes his head and stands up. He goes across the room, opens the door and yells, “Lance is up!”

There’s thunderous footsteps and the rest of the residents of the gym push their way into the room, with Hunk leading the charge.

“Buddy!” Hunk cries, skidding to a halt beside Lance’s bed, “Do you remember me?”

“’Course I do,” Lance says, utterly bewildered.

Allura shoves Hunk aside and shines a bright light in Lance’s eyes. “Follow the light, don’t move your head—open your eyes!”

Lance squirms back. “No, you loony bird, that light hurts!”

“Easy, Allura,” Coran says, “I know we’re all worried, but let’s take this one step at a time. Lance, what’s the last thing you remember?”

“Trying to help Arcanine,” Lance says, blinking purple lights out of his line of sight and gazing down at the still-sleeping Pokémon. He can see white bandages wrapped around its neck. “Is it okay?”

“Yes,” Shiro says, sitting at the foot of Lance’s bed, “Thanks to you.”

“YOU IDIOT!” Pidge and Hunk yell together.

“What was I supposed to do?!” Lance screams. Blue jumps and hides under Lance’s blankets, but Lance keeps screaming, “It was in pain! It was howling! It didn’t want to…to be bad, they hurt it, they hurt it so badly, I didn’t have a choice, I had to help!” Overwhelmed, Lance starts sobbing.

Hunk sits next to Lance and hugs him. “Buddy, you almost died,” he says, his voice breaking.

“I…what?” Lance asks.

Hunk starts crying, and Shiro explains, “Lance, the amount of electricity the collar was sending out was enough to send you into cardiac arrest.”

Lance lifts a bandaged hand to his chest. “What…what happened to my hands?”

Shiro gulps. “They were…burned, horribly. Your skin was black. We managed to heal them, but it’s going to be a while before you can really use them again. We don’t know the full extent of the internal damage, what happened to your nerves and muscles.”

Lance feels like he might faint.

“But there is good news,” Shiro says quickly. “Legendary Pokémon are known to be able to heal the trainers that they’re bonded with, so once you get enough strength back to make the trip to the cavern, we can see what Kyogre can do to fix you up.”

Lance takes a deep breath and feels some of the panic fade. Hunk keeps his arm around Lance’s shoulders and asks anxiously, “You okay?”

“Fine,” Lance pants. “What about…the people who attacked us? What about Arcanine? What about Shay and Rax? You said Shay found me?”

“Okay,” Shiro says, holding up his hands, “Let’s start at the beginning. The island is surrounded by sensors that tell us when someone lands on our shores. So we were alerted when the attackers’ boat pulled up on the shore. At the time we didn’t know that they had ill intentions, we only realized it when they blasted the door open. That’s when the alarm went off and, according to Coran, when your Milotic started acting up.”

Lance remembers that—oh man, he’s going to have to talk to Milotic soon.

“Allura, Pidge and I engaged the attackers,” Shiro continues. “You and Keith joined us. We saw you get thrown from the room, and Keith tried to go after you but got attacked. Hunk had been trying to keep Shay and Rax away from the battle, but they took off and joined us in the fight. At that point in the battle, the attackers realized they were outnumbered. Allura yelled that you might be hurt, and while the rest of us engaged the attackers, Shay went off to look for you. She found you trying to free Arcanine, when she realized that the electric collar was hurting both of you, she called out her Onyx and had it bite the collar off Arcanine. By that time, the attackers called off their Pokémon and ran to the beach. Rax and Hunk went after them, and Shay got the rest of us to you and Arcanine. We got both of you to the medical wing as fast as we could. Arcanine has been sedated most of the time, since its burns are in a very sensitive spot on its body, but when it is awake, it always wants to be near you. We don’t think there will be extensive, long-lasting damage to Arcanine. Possibly the fur on its neck will never grow back. As for you, we’ll have to wait and see how you heal up.”

“Where are Shay and Rax now?” Lance asks.

“They left,” Shiro says, “We finally convinced them to go home yesterday. They did help us rebuild the gym’s front door before they left, and they wanted to stay longer, but it’s just not safe.”

“So the people who attacked us, did they get away?” Lance asks.

Keith lets out an actual growl. “They jumped over the cliff,” he says through gritted teeth. “They had like, jet packs or something, they flew down from the cliff and out to their boat before we could get close to them.”

Lance closes his eyes. “So it was all for nothing,” he says bitterly. “They got away, and they’re going to hurt more Pokémon.” Tears burn his eyes. “We failed.”

“That’s not true,” Shiro, Keith, and Hunk say at the same time.

Lance opens his eyes. “Tell that to—”

“To this Arcanine,” Keith says firmly. “It hasn’t left your side. As soon as we bandaged it and cleaned its wounds, it found its way to you and jumped up on your bed. We put food on the floor, but it wouldn’t move. We’ve been spoon-feeding it because it refuses to leave your side.”

Lance feels like his heart is breaking. He places his hand on the Pokémon’s head, and it blinks its eyes open, looks up at Lance, and starts to wag its tail.

“Hi, baby,” Lance says.

Arcanine worms closer and falls asleep again. Blue sticks her head out from under the blankets and trills, and Lance scoops her into his arms.

“We got something else,” Allura says. “A name—Sendak. He seems to be a leader of some sort, I sent word to all the law enforcers, they’re trying to see if his name has come up before.”

Lance leans back against his pillow and sighs heavily. He’s overwhelmed, and he’s starting to get tired. “By the way,” he says, realizing that things have not been adding up, “You guys are talking like a lot of time has passed. How long was I out for?”

Hunk flicks Lance’s forehead. “Four days.”

Lance can’t even find the strength to be surprised. “Of course.”

“And you need more rest,” Allura says firmly. “The more you heal now, the easier it’ll be for Kyogre to help you.”

That seems counterintuitive—Lance needs to heal so Kyogre can heal him? But Lance can’t voice that opinion, he’s already asleep again.

 

Lance wakes up sporadically, for a few minutes or hours at a time, over the next two days. Hunk brings him food, but Lance can’t hold a spoon, so Hunk has to feed him. They joke about it, but Hunk looks pained, and Lance has to remind him that he’s going to get better.

“It could be a lot worse, after all,” Lance says, “I could be dead, remember?”

Hunk starts crying, and Lance realizes maybe that wasn’t the best thing to say.

Sometimes when Lance is awake, Arcanine will wake up as well and stare up at Lance with stars in its eyes. Lance decides that he’s going to call the Arcanine Sirius, whether it’s a boy or girl, and not because of the Harry Potter character, but because of the brightest star in the galaxy. Lance wishes he could pet Sirius, but he can’t because his hands are too heavy, and even trying to move them sends pain through his bones. Instead Lance tells Blue to give Sirius a grooming, and bless that little Pokémon’s heart, she looks after Sirius like it’s her own pup. She grooms it, scolds it when it gets squirmy, and she even feeds it. It’s quite a sight, watching Blue leap off the bed and back on, depositing tiny mouthfuls of kibble in front of Sirius.

And each time Lance wakes up, Hunk, Pidge or Coran are by his side. Sometimes they sit next to him quietly, and sometimes Lance talks to them. Coran doesn’t tell Lance a lot about what’s going on outside the hospital room, because he says he doesn’t want to stress Lance out, but Hunk is a lot easier to get information from.

Hunk says that the main entry has been almost completely rebuilt, but the electricity is still out. He also says that the hunt for abused Pokémon has taken a backseat as the trainers attempt to find way to strengthen their defenses against further attacks.

Pidge usually doesn’t answer Lance’s questions, because she spends all her time in Lance’s room muttering to herself, and most of her mutterings send Lance right to sleep. Apparently there was enough of Sirius’ collar left for her to take it apart and figure out that the electrical charges were emitted based on various factors, including wireless transmission from a remote control, and readings gathered from the Pokémon’s own body. Pidge talks about how she might be able to create a way to jam the frequency so that the Pokémon can’t be shocked remotely, and further scramble the inner mechanisms of the collar so it can’t react to Pokémon’s vital signs. Lance knows it’s important, and pretty amazing that Pidge can figure all that out, but there’s just something about her voice that sends him to sleep. It’s so even and calm.

On the evening of Lance’s second day of semi-consciousness, he wakes up feeling a lot more alert, and he finds Keith slouched in the chair next to his bed.

“You,” Lance says.

“Me,” Keith says.

“Where’s my usual company?”

“They went to install a new alert system at the shore.” Keith frowns. “Why?”

Lance rolls his eyes. “It had to be you.”

“Just what is your problem with me?” Keith snaps.

“What is _your_ problem with _me?”_ Lance snaps back, “Every time I try to talk to you, it ends up with you snapping about something. You shouted at me first thing when I woke up, and threatened to kill me! You insult me—”

“You insult me, too,” Keith interrupts. “You insult Hunk, he insults you back. You regularly exchange insults with Pidge. I was under the impression that was just friendly bickering.” Keith looks at him through narrowed eyes. “As for threatening to kill you when you woke up, and yelling at you, I knew everyone else would baby you. Do even understand what you did, in putting your hands on that collar as long as you did? Did the words cardiac arrest not register with you?”

“They did,” Lance hisses.

“Didn’t you think about that once you realized how strong the charge was, the first time you touched the collar?”

“I thought I should help Sirius!” Lance shouts.

“And who would help your Pokémon if something happened to you?!” Keith shouts back. “What would have happened to Blue, and Milotic? What if, even if you hadn’t died, the damage to your hands had been permanent? What if the shocks damaged your brain? Helping other Pokémon is great but not at the risk of your own team!”

Keith said something just like that in the cave with Kyogre. That he wouldn’t risk his own Pokémon’s lives in the battle against the people who were behind all this.

Lance sits up. “Then how do you suggest we fight back?” He growls.

“By planning,” Keith says through gritted teeth, “And training, and having each other’s backs because that’s what a team does, rather than running off alone.”

“There wasn’t time to call anyone, I—”

“Team,” Keith says again. “There is no ‘I’ in it. I’ve learned that the hard way.”

Lance stares Keith down. “That’s rich coming from you. You don’t seem to care about being my teammate.”

Keith throws his hands up. “Is this about that stupid rivalry you were going on about? Because you’re literally the only one who cares, you’re not my rival anymore, you’re—”

“During my interview,” Lance interrupts, “What were you supposed to ask me?”

Keith looks confused. “What?”

“My interview,” Lance repeats, his voice shaking with anger. “The one where you were looking to see if I was going to become a member of the Elite. Hunk said you asked him what he learned from being a Pokémon trainer. Were you supposed to ask me that question, too? Because Allura and Shiro had questions for me, but you didn’t. Did you just not care what I had to say? Did you think it didn’t matter? How shocked were you when you found out I was bonded to Kyogre, honestly?”

Keith’s jaw drops. “That…is that what this is all about?” He runs his hand through his hair. “Jesus, Lance…I didn’t know. I didn’t ask you anything because you had already answered it and I knew you were Elite material. Didn’t you hear me ask Allura for the box? It was because I knew.”

Lance deflates a little. “You…knew? How?”

“From how you talked about your bond with Blue,” Keith says. “You said you didn’t change yourself for her, and it was implied that you didn’t have to. That’s one of the most important things about being a trainer, not changing yourself or your Pokémon, but learning to work with them using what you already have.”

For a few minutes, Lance and Keith just kind of…stare at each other. Lance is the first to look away. He clears his throat.

“I guess…I was kind of a dick,” Lance admits.

“Yeah, you were,” Keith agrees. “I guess I was, too. I know I snapped at you, especially when we were talking about fighting against Team Galra. Shiro’s always on my case about my tone, it wasn’t you I was angry at specifically, although I did think you were kind of reckless, it was more the situation I was mad at.”

Lance realizes that he and Keith are having a bonding moment right now, but he latches on to something Keith said. “Hang on, rewind. Did you say Team Galra?”

“Yeah,” Keith says, “Didn’t Hunk tell you? We figured out that’s the name of the group we’re up against.”

“I’m gonna kill Hunk, he never said a thing,” Lance growls.

“Well, we got a hit on the name Sendak,” Keith says. “He robbed a few factories, stole a bunch of powerful pokeballs and manufacturing equipment. Each time the people who were robbed reported that they were told to remember the name Team Galra.”

“Never heard of them,” Lance says.

“Allura has,” Keith says darkly. “She went white as a Vanillite when she heard the name. Apparently they were a really powerful group back in her father’s day, but when they started doing dangerous experiments a bunch of the Elite, including Alfor, battled them and defeated their leader, and they forced the Team to disband. Apparently though they just went underground.”

“Aw, hell,” Lance says. “So these people have been at this for a while and they’ve had time to get stronger. That’s just perfect.” He sits up. “I want to go see Kyogre now, I’m ready to be out of bed and helping.”

“Hang on there,” Keith says, getting to his feet. “The healing process from a Legendary is intense, you should probably rest a while longer or it’ll completely wipe you out.”

Lance ignores him. He looks around the room. “Hey, where’s Blue?”

Keith freezes. “Um…who?”

Lance glares at him. “You know who Blue is.”

“Right…” Keith shuffles his feet. “Um…she’s…on a date?”

“A date,” Lance repeats. “With who?”

“My Flareon.”

Lance leaps out of bed and runs out of the room. “BLUE!” He hollers, “NO DATES FOR YOU YOUNG LADY, GET YOUR TINY FINS OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things you may have missed in all the action but are details that I love and want you to love:  
> Shiro has a Skitty. It drinks his cereal milk.  
> “Don’t fucking swear in front of blue”  
> Lance would have absolutely died for Sirius god bless him. In addition, Lance is indeed a Harry Potter fan, though that’s not why he picked the name Sirius  
> Blue adopted Sirius


	5. Never Meant for You to Fix Yourself

It’s the first time that the entire team has assembled in Kyogre’s cavern, and as much as Lance loves his teammates, he hopes it will be the last. Between Hunk fretting that the ceiling will collapse, Pidge trying to figure out the gravitational force exerted on the whatever the hell she’s talking about, and Allura and Coran gushing over the wall carvings, the whole space is just echoing and making Lance’s head rattle.

Kyogre seems to notice Lance’s mood. _‘You are, as the expression goes, worked up,’_ it sends to Lance.

And Lance is. Between the pain in his hands, the stress of knowing that there’s an organization out there enslaving Pokémon, and the fact that his darling Vaporeon is full on flirting, Lance is a mess. He sends all this to Kyogre, and the giant Pokémon chuckles.

“Well, let’s see if we can’t fix one of those things,” it says out loud.

Lance nods. “So, how does this work?”

Kyogre close to the shore, sending waves over the edge of the rocks. “First, you need to unwrap your hands, and then come join me in the water.”

Allura takes the bandages off of Lance’s hands. He can’t even move his fingers because of the pain, though outwardly the scarring is minimal. Shiro says all the damage is in the nerve endings, which is why it hurts so much.

Lance toes off his shoes and wades into the water. He’s practically up to his neck when he stands at Kyogre’s eye.

“Now what?” Lance asks.

“Place your hands on my body. Anywhere will do.”

Lance places his hands behind Kyogre’s eye. He winces as his fingers come in contact with Kyogre’s skin, and he holds back a pained sound as he molds his hand to Kyogre’s head.

“Now close your eyes and try to relax,” Kyogre says.

It’s easier said than done, especially since Lance’s hands are in a great deal of pain, but he closes his eyes and exhales, focusing on the feeling of water surrounding him. He pictures the water rippling around his shoulders, curling against the back of his neck, swirling around his legs. From behind his eyelids Lance sees a blue glow, but before he can open his eyes to look at it, his entire body freezes in place. He’s no longer seeing a blue glow, instead he’s staring at a galaxy filled with stars, and there’s a path in front of him.

“What the heck?” Lance asks.

Kyogre’s voice echoes around him. “You worry about your friends, your Pokémon, and Pokémon you haven’t even met yet. You doubt your ability to combat this threat.”

“I mean, yeah,” Lance says. “I’ve never faced anything like this before, we’re talking about the fate of all the Pokémon in the world, your fate! These people are after you, and it’s my job to keep you safe.”

“You’re wrong about that,” Kyogre says. “It’s our job to keep Pokémon safe. And when the time comes to fight, we will fight together.”

“How? It’s not like I can call on you in battle.”

At that, Kyogre lets out a laugh that’s half sad, half manic. “Can’t you?”

Before Lance can think of a response to that, a new image appears before his eyes. There’s smoke everywhere, and sparks fly. A woman with black curly hair, blood dripping from her mouth, is staring down a masked person. The woman spits blood from her mouth, and behind her something explodes into flames. She straightens up and tosses two pokeballs up in the air, from which emerge a Gyarados and a Dragonite.

The trainer shouts, “I call upon the might of Kyogre!”

A blue light envelops her body, and she seems to gather the light in her hands, then she thrusts her hands out towards her Pokémon. All three—the trainer, the Gyarados, and the Dragonite—let out loud screams, and all of their eyes start glowing blue. Hyper beams spew forth from the Dragonite and Gyarados, stronger and brighter than any hyper beam Lance has ever seen, and the trainer herself shoots blue light from her hands. The scene is flooded with the blue light, and when the light fades, Lance is looking at the darkness behind his own eyelids.

He’s breathing heavily, and he feels completely drained, but his hands don’t hurt yet. He slumps forward and leans his forehead against Kyogre. “What was that?” He pants.

“I will lend you, and your Pokémon, my power should the time arise. You’ll know when I’m with you, trust me.”

“Did that actually happen?” Lance asks.

“It did, it was my memory,” Kyogre confirms.

Lance finally opens his eyes. He’s in complete and utter shock, and he now understands why Allura, Keith, and Shiro were so adamant that he be well-rested before this. Speaking of them…

“Are you okay?” Shiro calls.

Lance can hear someone splashing through the water. “Fine,” he calls.

Shiro’s voice comes again, a lot closer, “How are your hands?”

Lance staggers back and bumps right into Shiro. “Hey there,” Lance says, holding his hands up in front of his face. He curls his fingers, straightens them out again, and beams. “Hey, I can move them, and it doesn’t hurt!”

“Good,” Shiro laughs, “That’s great news. Kyogre, can we get him back on solid ground?”

“Hey, this is solid ground,” Lance protests.

“Take him back to base and make sure he rests,” Kyogre says firmly. “I will be wanting to speak to Milotic tomorrow. And tell Lance to bring the bucket, I want to play when we’re done with official business!”

“I can hear you,” Lance says.

“Yes,” Shiro agrees, guiding Lance towards the shore, “But whether or not you remember is a different story entirely.”

“Why wouldn’t I remember?” Lance asks. At least, he thinks he asks. Things are getting kind of fuzzy.

“Here, put him on my back,” Hunk says, “I’ve done this more times than I can count.”

“I can walk,” Lance mumbles.

“Go to sleep,” Keith says.

Actually, sleep sounds pretty good. Maybe Lance will sleep, but not because Keith said so.

 

The next few days are busy ones. Lance takes Milotic down to see Kyogre, and it’s an emotional visit. Milotic is afraid, and ashamed of himself. Lance ends up leaving him with Kyogre for a few days, because it needs to recover and feel protected, though he assures Milotic that he’s not abandoning him, just making sure that Milotic does, indeed, feel safe.

When Lance isn’t visiting Kyogre and Milotic, he’s bemoaning Blue’s increasing closeness to Flareon, learning about the new security measures on the island, and trying to train Sirius. Trying being the operative word. He’s never trained a fire type Pokémon before, and it’s vastly different from training a water type. After three days and lots of targets being turned to ash, Lance is forced to admit that he has no idea what he’s doing. He can’t imagine battling with Sirius in anything other than a life and death fight, because Sirius’ attacks are strong enough to kill an opponent.

For the good of his Pokémon, Lance realizes that he’s going to have to ask for help.

“You can do this,” Lance mutters to himself, raising his hand to knock. Then he whirls away from the door, wringing his hands. “Ugh, do I have to?” He whispers.

He hasn’t spoken much to Keith since that day in the hospital when he realized he’d greatly misjudged Keith. Not really his fault, since Keith didn’t talk to him either, but Lance didn’t give him much of a chance, and it’s awkward for Lance, having to admit that he was wrong. Now he’s got to ask for Keith’s help, and further admit that Keith knows about something he’s got no idea about.

Lance turns back to the door. “For Sirius,” he mutters, raising his hand to knock.

The door slides open and Lance stumbles back.

Keith glares. “How long are you going to stand outside my room?”

Lance sputters, “I was not!”

Keith folds his arms. “Ask what you want to ask.”

Lance grits his teeth. “Can you help me train Sirius?” He takes a deep breath and adds, “Please.”

Keith smiles. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

Lance grumbles, “Yeah, yeah, now will you or won’t you?”

“I will,” Keith says. “Meet me in the fire gym at 9 AM tomorrow.”

Lance tells himself that it wasn’t so bad.

 

Every time Pidge has to touch the abhorrent collar that was around Sirius’ neck, she shudders. She can’t believe a human would be so cruel as to force a Pokémon with electric shocks to do something that they don’t want to do. Plusle and Minun chirp at her from where they sit on her feet, and she bends down to pat their heads. “I’m okay,” she assures.

Lance glowers at the collar. “Can we burn that thing when you’re done with it?”

“With pleasure,” Pidge mutters.

The doors to the lab slide open and Allura breezes in, her arms full of files. “These are all the documents we haven’t managed to digitally archive, and I did find the ones about the radio tower.”

Pidge nods and points to a table already crowded with papers. “Put them over there, please.”

Allura deposits the files and gives the collar a dirty look. “Blasted thing. Those poor Pokémon…” she shakes her head and looks at Lance. “How is Sirius?”

“Sleeping on my bed,” Lance says. “Keith is going to help me train it tomorrow.”

Allura looks nervous. “Lance I…I don’t know how to say this but you are aware that…it may not be trainable?”

Lance does know that. “I’m not giving up,” he says sharply.

“I’m not saying you should,” Allura says, “But fire is…well in any case until I personally know that it can battle without seriously hurting another Pokémon, you can’t use it in gym battles.”

Lance expected that, but it still stings. “It’s not Sirius’ fault.”

“I know,” Allura says gently, “But it’s for Sirius’ benefit as well as that of other Pokémon. I don’t think it realizes just how strong it is.”

Lance knows it doesn’t. Every time Sirius obliterates a target, it turns to Lance with its tail wagging and a happy look in its eye, expecting praise. Lance imagines Sirius going up against a weaker Pokémon and shudders. Sirius could kill.

“Hey, Allura?” Pidge says, “What’s going on with the other Legendary Pokémon? Should we be worried about Team Galra going after Zapdos or Regirock?”

Allura shakes her head. “It’s highly unlikely that they would try.”

“So, why are they so hell bent on going after Kyogre?” Lance asks.

“Well for one thing, it’s one of the largest of the Legendaries,” Allura says, “And it’s hard to keep all the space that it needs under lock and key. Though as much space as it needs, it’s the most stationary Legendary. Kyogre has lived in that cavern for hundreds of years, its location isn’t exactly hard to figure out if you’re in the business of hunting powerful Pokémon.”

“So, the other Legendaries move around?” Lance asks.

“Either independently or by the trainers who guard them,” Allura confirms. “For example, Zapdos hardly ever says in one place very long, and it’s fond of lurking in intense lightning storms or hurricanes, but you can’t search every lightning bolt for evidence of a Legendary Pokémon, not with all the storms happening simultaneously around the world. In the case of Jirachi, after the last attempt to disturb its sleep, it was decided that it would need to be moved every few years. Every time a new trainer bonds with it, they decide where to move it.” She glances at Lance. “You can imagine how hard it would be to find a new cavern to house Kyogre. Sure, it can dive deep into the water and hide in the most inhospitable depths of the ocean, but it doesn’t want to. That’s another thing that makes it hard to keep the Legendaries safe, they don’t want to be kept away from the world, from people and other Pokémon. You’ve seen it yourself, they want to have fun.”

Lance huffs. “It’s just…it sucks. Why do people have to be so cruel?”

Allura rubs her temples. “If you can answer that question, I’ll gladly make you the head of this gym.” She shakes her head. “Anyway, I need some rest. Pidge, don’t stay up too late.”

Pidge sputters, “You sound like my mother!”

“Well, you need rest to keep that brain of yours functioning,” Allura says, patting Pidge’s head. “Sleep well.”

When she leaves, Pidge rolls her eyes. “Honestly, I’m fifteen, I know how to take care of myself.”

Lance rolls his eyes. “Did you or did you not forget to eat for two days straight last week?”

“You were out cold, who the hell told you that?” Pidge demands.

Lance doesn’t answer, but he’s pretty sure she’ll figure out that it was Coran.

 

At 9:01 AM Lance walks into the fire gym with Sirius by his side. Keith is tapping his foot and he frowns at Lance.

“You’re late.”

“No, I’m Lance.”

Keith rolls his eyes. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road.” He takes two pokeballs off of his belt and tosses them up in the air. Out comes a Charizard, and a Cyndaquil. Lance is immediately afraid for the tiny Cyndaquil.

“Stop that right now,” Keith says firmly.

“Stop what?” Lance asks.

“Worrying,” Keith says. “Let me worry about my Pokémon, don’t let Sirius feed off your fears.”

That’s Pokémon training 101, Lance knew that, but it’s hard not to worry when yesterday he watched Sirius partially melt a wall. Lance takes a deep breath and exhales slowly, imagining the tensions leaving his shoulders. When he relaxes, Sirius takes a seat next to him and nudges its head under Lance’s hand. Lance pats it, and Keith smiles.

“Hey there, Sirius,” he greets, crouching down. He’s a good five feet away, and he holds out his hand, palm down. “Can I pet you?”

Sirius leans back a little, eyeing Keith suspiciously. Keith leans back, lowering his hand. “Okay,” he says. He pats his leg. “Cinder, come here.”

The Cyndaquil clambers up on Keith’s lap and snuffles at his face. Keith coos at it, baby-talking, “Who’s my little cutie? Are you a good baby?” Cyndaquil squeaks and trills, waving its front feet at Keith. “Wanna train?” Keith asks, and Cyndaquil leaps off his lap and wriggles on the floor.

“Okay,” Keith laughs. He takes a remote out of his pocket. “Get ready, we’re going to practice movement and agility,” Keith says. He looks over at Lance. “Please stand behind the line,” he says, pointing near the wall.

Lance backs up and Sirius follows.

Keith a Cyndaquil stand in the middle of the room, Charizard behind them, and Keith presses a button on the remote. “Quick attack, flamethrower!” he cries.

Cyndaquil darts around the room, shooting bursts of flame from its back. It’s so fast Lance can hardly track what it’s attacking with his eyes, but he finally realizes that it’s going after tennis balls, and the flames are disintegrating them.

When Cyndaquil skids to a halt, Keith lets out a shout of joy. “Way to go, Cinder!” he holds out his arms and the Pokémon bounds to him, leaping into his arms. Keith rewards Cinder with a tight hug, and then he lets it down again.

Next, Keith turns to Charizard. “Okay buddy, we’re going to do the candle test.”

Charizard seems to puff up a little bit as it waddles to the center of the room. Keith goes to the opposite wall and unrolls a giant sheet of paper, which he walks across the entirety of the wall and clips to the other side. Then he presses another button on the remote, and a small pillar rises from the floor, on which Keith places a single, tall candle.

“Back up,” Keith tells Charizard, and it takes one giant step back. Keith stands beside it, then turns to Lance. “Charizard is going to light that candle, from back here, without burning the paper.”

Lance can hardly believe that. “Really?”

Keith nods. He turns to Charizard. “Whenever you’re ready, bud.”

Charizard closes its eyes and takes a deep breath. For a moment it doesn’t move, then a burst of fire shoots from its mouth. A breeze shakes the paper, but it doesn’t catch fire. The flame has traveled so quickly across the room that Lance didn’t even get follow its path, but the candle is lit, and the paper remains intact. Lance’s jaw drops.

Keith beckons Lance over. “Go touch the paper,” he says.

Lance does, with Sirius trailing after him. He brushes his hand over the paper. It’s slightly warm, but still smooth and pristine. “How the heck?” Lance asks.

“Control,” Keith says. “It’s not something Charizard learned overnight, either. I’ve got nothing against water types, Lance, but training a fire type is vastly different from training a water type. You don’t get to wing it with fire types. If my Pokémon hit me with their attacks, I could very easily get killed. So when I start training a new Pokémon, the first thing I do is teach it to light a candle. I teach it to create a small fire, a fire that won’t hurt me. That’s not to say that I’ve never been hurt.” He rolls up his sleeves and shows Lance red patches that line his arms. “All burns, all very painful, and all complete accidents caused by my own Pokémon. They never mean it, but it doesn’t mean it hurts any less.” Keith rolls down his sleeves. “Often, they don’t realize that their fire hurts me until after I’ve been burned. Sometimes the only way to teach them that is to be burned in the first place. They don’t want to hurt me, but fire doesn’t hurt them, so they don’t make the connection until they see me in pain.” He looks at Sirius. “Or, until I scold them. Something I doubt you’ve done to Sirius.”

Lance has been simmering silently, and at that he cracks. “I have to yell at it?” He cries.

“Not yell, scold,” Keith says. “You don’t get anywhere by praising a Pokémon when you don’t mean it.”  He pushes a button on the remote and a mannequin pops out from the wall. “Tell it to attack that, but not destroy it.”

Lance takes a deep breath, and looks at Sirius. “Sirius, on my count, use flamethrower. Hit that target, but do not destroy it.”

Sirius yelps and wags its tail. Lance points to the target. “Go, flamethrower!”

Sirius bounds to the target and releases a stream of fire. The target is immediately engulfed. A jet of water shoots down from the ceiling, putting out the flames. The target is blackened, metal insides poking through the fabric. Sirius wags its tail happily.

“Um, g—” Lance says.

“No,” Keith says firmly.

Sirius looks puzzled. Keith steps forward. “Sirius, that is not what you were commanded to do.”

Sirius looks between the target and Keith, then at Lance.

“He’s right,” Lance says. “You…you destroyed the target.”

Sirius looks shocked. It whimpers and lowers its head. Lance’s heart breaks.

“Tell it you’re not mad,” Keith whispers. “But don’t say that it’s okay.”

Lance crouches down. “Sirius, I’m not mad at you,” he says gently. He holds out his hand. “Come here.”

Sirius approaches, slinking close to the ground. Lance allows it to sniff his hand cautiously, then he pats its head. Sirius whines, looking confused.

“Sirius, watch,” Keith commands. He pushes the button on the remote again, and another mannequin pops out. “Charizard, flamethrower, central aim!”

Charizard roars and a jet of fire spews from its mouth, hitting the target dead center. Water falls on the target, extinguishing the flame and revealing a perfect hole in the mannequin.

Keith puts the two targets next to each other. “Look, Sirius,” he says, pointing at Charizard’s target. “This is what we’re going to teach you to do.”

Sirius approaches Charizard’s target and sniffs it, paws at it, and yelps at it. Keith turns to Lance. “This is going to be a process,” he says. “It could take weeks or months for Sirius to learn this kind of control, an attack powerful enough to damage but not destroy. I’m sure Allura told you this, but it may never be able to battle with in a gym.”

Lance is starting to see that, but it still rubs him the wrong way. “It—”

“Isn’t Sirius’ fault?” Keith finishes. “I know. I’m going to let you in on a fire type secret—not all of them are able to be part of a battle team. Not every Pokémon is capable of learning this kind of control. They were just born that way. Oh sure, they can learn some control, but sometimes it’s not enough to assure a trainer that they won’t kill a weak Pokémon by accident, and it’s up to the trainer to be the judge of that. What makes Sirius a difficult case is it was never trained to have any control at all.”

Lance takes a deep breath. “So, what do we do?”

Keith goes to a cabinet and opens a drawer, showing Lance dozens upon dozens of candles. “We remember to be patient, and prepare to go through a lot of these. And the first step is getting Sirius to trust me.” Keith closes the drawer. “So, no more training today. Now, we go for a walk.” He calls back his Charizard and Cyndaquil, and releases Red from his pokeball.

“Oye, Red!” Keith yells as the Pokémon shakes itself, “Want to go play fetch?”

Keith and Lance exit the gym and take Red and Sirius out to the beach. Red bounds ahead, fast for a Pokémon with three legs, while Sirius stays by Lance’s side. Once at the shoreline, Red charges into the woods and comes back with a huge stick.

After Keith throws the stick for Red a few times, Sirius gets interested as well. It follows Red, hovering several yards behind, until Red drops the stick at Sirius’ feet and yips a few times, wagging his tail. Sirius picks up the stick and brings it to Keith, looking uncertain. When Sirius drops the stick, Keith holds out his hand for Sirius to sniff.

“Good job,” Keith praises. He grabs the stick and gives it a good toss, and both Pokémon go chasing after it.

Keith throws the stick for the Pokémon a few more times, until Sirius becomes more interested in the sand than the stick. Sirius snuffles at the sand, sneezing every few seconds, and turns in circles, yipping at the sand that flies out from under its paws.

Red notices and trots over to Sirius, and Keith follows. “Hey Red, want to dig?” Keith asks.

Red leaps and barks excitedly. Keith kneels on Red’s right side, using his own shoulder to support Red’s front half. Together, Keith and Red start digging a hole, while Sirius looks on.

“Show it what to do,” Keith tells Lance. “It’s probably never dug a hole before.”

Lance kneels next to Sirius and starts digging. Sirius watches, but still seems puzzled, so Lance crouches next to it, takes its paws in his hands, and moves them in a digging motion. “Like this,” Lance says.

Sirius seems to finally get it. Well, sort of. It flails it’s paws in the ground, sending sand flying everywhere and digging long, shallow trenches that look nothing like a hole, but oh boy is Sirius having fun. The Pokémon takes off down, the beach, yelping and jumping, and it stops every few feet to dig a wide channel into the sand. Finally it comes charging back, and starts helping Red dig. By now Sirius seems to have calmed down, and it actually digs in one spot, deepening Red’s hole rather quickly. Lance takes a step back and lets Sirius go wild.

By the time Sirius gets tired of digging, Red has long given up. The hole is so deep that when Sirius sticks its head in it, it nearly falls over. And there’s sand everywhere. It’s in Keith’s hair, Lance’s shoes, and all over Sirius’ mane. In fact, Sirius’ whole face is crusted with sand, but Lance has never seen it so satisfied. And it doesn’t shy away when Keith gives it a pat on the head.

“Good bonding day,” Keith says. “Now that Sirius trusts me too, we can work more on training it tomorrow.”

Lance doesn’t say it out loud, but he’s starting to think maybe Keith isn’t so bad.

 

Three days after Lance’s hands have been healed, he’s officially put back on the battle roster, and Pidge is taken off of it. Instead of battling, Pidge is putting all her energy into finding a way to switch off the shock collars, first for any Pokémon that comes on to the island, and then any Pokémon on Team Galra, wherever in the world they might be. It takes up a lot of her time, so Allura and Pidge came to the conclusion that it would be best if she wasn’t interrupted by an incoming Elite challenger.

Between reading whatever information Allura digs up on Team Galra, training Sirius with Keith, and keeping the rest of his battle team in top form, Lance barely has time to think about home and the family he misses. He tries to call home every other day, but some nights he’s so tired that he can only talk for a few minutes before just being stationary makes him fall asleep. His mom says proudly that he must be so busy now, as a member of the Elite. Lance hasn’t been able to tell her about Team Galra, and he doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to worry any of his family, and as far as he knows, none of them are aware of Galra’s existence, so why tell them about it? His older sisters all have careers in Pokémon training, hearing about the atrocities Galra are responsible for would only make them sad.

At night when Lance flops down next to Sirius and Blue curls up against the small of Lance’s back, Lance can almost pretend that he’s back in the outdoors, sleeping under the stars, the body heat of his Pokémon the only source of warmth he needed. Things were simpler then, back when Kyogre wasn’t living under him and he didn’t have nightmares about screaming Pokémon, forced by pain to do things they didn’t want to.

But when Lance stares down at the scrap of metal he wears on a cord around his neck, he can’t bring himself to regret being part of the team. He’s bonded to Kyogre, how many trainers can experience something like that? And he has a chance to help keep Pokémon around the world safe, once Pidge creates her device and once they figure out where Team Galra are based or…if…they attack the island again. That part kind of sucks, being sitting ducks because they simply have no way to take the fight to their enemy.

It’s a frustration that the entire team feels, but one they can’t do much about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things you may have missed in all the action but are details that I love and want you to love:  
> Allura mothers Pidge  
> Lance left Milotic with Kyogre in the Cave of Origin so it could recover from the trauma of the attack on the gym; Lance is an A++ trainer ;w;  
> Lance the type to be 1 minute late bc he’s not a nerd, Keith, GOD  
> “You’re late.” “No, I’m Lance.”  
> Sirius has never dug a hole before


	6. As Long As There's a Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm like 5 hours late with this update. Sorry!

“C’mon Lance, up and at ‘em!” Shiro cries, throwing open Lance’s curtains.

Lance groans and burrows his face in his pillow. “It’s Sunday.”

“I’m aware,” Shiro says, “That means we’re all free, so it’s time for some exploring.”

“Huh?”

Shiro actually slaps his butt. “Up, up, up! I’m not going to come in here again and ask nicely!”

Well, if the light didn’t wake Lance up, the hand on his ass certainly did. He grumbles and squirms out of bed, leaving Blue and Sirius to continue snoozing. He’s half hoping he’ll be able to sneak back to bed, so he doesn’t get dressed, just drags himself to the dining room, where he meets Hunk and Pidge, both falling asleep in their breakfast.

“Wha’s the big idea?” Lance asks, nearly tripping over Pidge’s Minun as he rubs his eyes.

“Not a clue,” Pidge grumbles. “Shiro’s a morning person, I guess.”

Lance sits and pours himself some coffee, and nudges Hunk awake before he can fall into his cereal bowl and drown in the milk. Hunk jumps, looks around wildly, and groans.

“I’m going home,” Hunk mutters.

“No you’re not,” Lance says.

“Probably not,” Hunk agrees.

Shiro waltzes into the room. Keith trails behind him, hair mussed and shirt hanging off his shoulders. Keith actually does trip over Minun, and he face-plants on the floor and doesn’t get up until Shiro hauls him up.

“What is going on?” Keith asks, his tone promising death.

“Listen up guys,” Shiro says, slamming his hands on the table. “I’ve been thinking it over, and we have to have an advantage over Team Galra besides our technology, our Pokémon, and our teamwork, because they’ve got all that stuff, too. Then it hit me—this is our island. We have to know it better than they do, we have to be able to know the trails, the cliffs, and so on. We have to be able to battle on the terrain. So we’re going hiking. We’re going to explore the island.”

Pidge looks ready to throw herself off a cliff. “No way, man. I do not get along with the outdoors, there’s a reason I stick to tech, I’m allergic to nature and sun.”

“Don’t be like that,” Shiro says, “This will be fun! I’ve hiked this island dozens of times and I never get tired of how beautiful it is.”

“Can we appreciate how beautiful it is at, like, noon?” Lance asks.

“And why isn’t Allura here?” Hunk asks.

“I’m here,” Allura says. Lance jumps and looks around—she’s in the doorway, backpack over her shoulders and her Meowstick perched on it. She’s bright eyed and energetic, and she bounces slightly on her toes as she says, “This is going to be so much fun, I haven’t been hiking with the Elites in ages!”

Lance melts a little. Allura’s been working so hard, maybe he can stomach this for her.

“But I have work to do,” Pidge whines.

“There is such a thing as too much work,” Allura says. “I’ve got plans for a picnic on the cliffs, there’s a gorgeous view of the ocean and there’s a waterfall on the hike back down!”

Well, that settles it for Lance. “Okay, I’ll go.” He starts scarfing down his breakfast. If there’s a waterfall, he might be able to dive off it.

Hunk sighs and says that he’ll go, Keith is up for it, and everyone gives Pidge puppy eyes until she gives in. After breakfast they all return to their rooms and get dressed (Lance puts on his swim shorts under his jeans), pack bags with water bottles and their pokeballs, and meet in the front hall. Sirius refuses to get in a pokeball, so it walks by Lance’s side.

“I’ll hold down the fort, make sure things run smoothly,” Coran says, twirling his mustache around his finger, his eyes twinkling mysteriously. Lance doesn’t trust that twinkle.

“Not too many episodes, okay?” Allura says, patting Coran’s shoulder.

He blushes and screams, “I promise nothing!” before taking off for the depths of the gym.

“What the heck?” Pidge asks.

Allura, Shiro, and Keith laugh. “He’s a soap opera addict,” Shiro says. “I bet he’s going to go marathon ‘Hearts on the Shore’ or whatever it is.”

The group sets off for the jungle, Allura in the lead. She points out the various plants, telling everyone about what use it has or if it grows flowers.

“Are any of them poisonous?” Pidge asks, skirting around a berry bush.

“Oh, plenty of them are,” Allura says cheerfully, “But the vast majority are only deadly if eaten.”

“Deadly?” Pidge yelps.

“Maybe we can beat Team Galra off by feeding them poison berries,” Hunk says.

“Believe me, I’ve thought about it,” Allura says. She gasps. “Oh, this vine is a handy one!” She tugs on a hanging vine. “They’re actually killing this tree, but the vines are good if you need some rope in a pinch, just braid them together and you’ve got a good sturdy rope, it doesn’t even have to be a tight braid!”

“Uh huh,” Lance says, wondering when he would be stranded in the jungle with a need for a vine rope. He doesn’t want to have to find out. “How do you know that?”

“Oh, I once got hopelessly lost in this jungle,” Allura says. “I spent a night out here, I made a rope and climbed into a tree at night, and I used a rock to knock on the tree and hope that the sound would carry.”

Lance gapes at her, and he’s not the only one. “How old were you?” Lance asks.

Allura shrugs. “Seven? Eight? I can’t remember.”

Hunk cries, “That seems like something that would be burned into your memory!”

“I would have never gone outside again,” Pidge says.

Allura turns around and smiles at them. “But I learned my lesson. I kept track of where I was going, listened to my parents when they told me to stay on the paths, and most importantly, I remembered not to panic. The worst thing you can do when you’re lost is panic, it clouds your judgement and makes you do stupid things. Speaking of which, pop quiz! What should you never do if you get lost in a jungle like this?”

“Start a fire?” Lance guesses, glancing at Sirius.

“How about get lost in the first place?” Pidge suggests.

“Ration your water,” Hunk says.

“Wait, never ration your water?” Lance asks.

“Correct!” Allura says. “Very good, Hunk! Yes, as you know this is a very hot place, and if you ration your water, you risk dehydration, which can lead to even more health problems, both immediate and long term. As you also know, it rains a lot here, so you can almost always find a way to replenish your water supply. You can collect the runoff from leaves—”

“The poisonous leaves that kill us if we eat them?” Pidge clarifies.

“Okay, not those leaves,” Allura says. She veers to the side of the path and points out a plant with leaves as long as she is tall, and broad as Shiro’s shoulders. “These leaves aren’t poisonous, and the stems where they gather are a perfect place to find pools of water.” She moves the leaves aside and squeals. “Tympole eggs!”

The trainers crowd in behind her for a glimpse at the eggs.

“Oh, cool!” Lance cries.

“Guess we shouldn’t drink that water,” Hunk says.

“No, but look,” Allura says. She uncaps her water bottle and holds the mouth against the bottom of the tall leaf. “As you can see, if it was raining, the water would slide down the center of the leaf and right into my bottle.” She recaps her bottle and heads back to the path. “And any water source you find on the island itself is fresh, and we regularly check the pollution levels, it’s totally safe to drink. You can scoop water right from the rivers.”

“Awesome,” Lance says. He’s itching to find a body of water now and let his Pokémon frolic. He wonders if Sirius would join them.

“Do you do a lot of hiking, Hunk?” Shiro asks.

“Nah, I grew up in Alola, so it was really warm there, too.”

“Alola? I thought you met Lance in Kanto,” Pidge says.

“Yeah, we moved to Kanto when I was like, fifteen,” Hunk explains. “That’s where I met Lance.”

“You know Hunk, I feel like I know nothing about you,” Allura says. “I mean, I know it’s not true, I know you’re a kind person with a big heart, you like to cook, you love your Pokémon and you’re a fantastic trainer. I know you’re not a morning person, you have an excellent memory, you comprehend the most complex equations and formulas, and you understand enough about technology to keep up with Pidge even when the rest of us can’t, but I don’t know what music you like, or what your hobbies are. You hardly ever talk about yourself.”

Hunk looks a little sheepish. “I mean, it’s not because I’m trying to keep all that stuff a secret, I just…I feel weird talking about myself, you know?”

“Lance doesn’t know, he can’t shut up about himself,” Keith quips.

“OYE!” Lance cries.

Pidge snorts and covers it with a cough when Lance glowers at her.

“So, why’d you move to Kanto?” Keith asks.

“Eh, it’s complicated,” Hunk says.

“What are your parents like?” Allura asks. “Any siblings?”

“Uh, no siblings,” Hunk says, glancing at Lance, who gives him an encouraging smile and nods. Hunk sighs. “But I do have three moms. Sort of.”

“Three?” Keith echoes. “Wow, you’ve sure got me outnumbered.”

Hunk laughs. “Yeah, there’s my mom who gave birth to me, my grandma who raised me, and my grandma’s girlfriend.”

“I sense a story,” Shiro says, “If you feel like telling it.”

“I guess I might as well,” Hunk says. “Okay, so my mom got pregnant when she was young, and way before she was ready for a kid. She knew it, too, which I admire her for, it takes a strong person to admit they’re not ready for something. My birth mom, she was about to go to college, and she was ready to give it up to raise me, but my grandma knew she wouldn’t be happy, so she said she’d adopt me and raise me while my mom grew up some. I knew my mom, growing up, but thought of her more as an aunt, and my grandma as my mom. I mean once I turned three I figured out that she also called my mom—the woman I called mom—mom as well, wait, yeah that’s right, so I knew something was off in my mental family tree, but I didn’t know for sure until I was seven and they all sat me down and straightened it out for me. Oh yeah and my grandma’s girlfriend—I called her Mimi, I think she gave me that idea. She and my grandma actually started dating when I was like two or something, but I don’t remember much before she came to live with us.”

Hunk sighs. “I think my grandma felt like she was getting a do-over with me. Her husband wasn’t a good person, she ran away from him with my mom to Alola when my mom was like, three. They had some rough times in the beginning, there wasn’t always enough to eat and sometimes my mom didn’t go to school because she didn’t have clean clothes to wear. I think that was another reason she wasn’t ready for me, she felt like she was throwing away everything her mom worked so hard to give her. Anyway, once I got my family tree explained to me I think my birth mom was worried I’d be mad at her, but I really wasn’t. I do call her mom now, and it was kind of confusing when all four of us were living together because I’d yell ‘MOM’ and get two responses.”

“Oh, you all lived together?” Allura says.

“Yup, when we moved to Kanto. My birth mom, she got a sweet job offer, and my mom—grandma mom—she had a really successful restaurant in Alola that she felt could go places. It’s how I learned to cook, she taught me. Anyway she left that restaurant in the hands of my cousin…who’s not really my cousin or related to me at all but my grandma kind of raised her. Anyway my grandma and Mimi opened a new restaurant in Kanto and that’s how I met Lance, he was the first one to respond when we put out a help wanted ad.”

“Oh, so did you cook?” Shiro asks Lance.

Hunk laughs. “Hell no, we didn’t want to kill anyone!”

Lance pouts. “Hey, I’ve learned a few things!”

“Buddy you once left water boiling so long, half of it evaporated.”

“Not my fault, I got distracted!”

“By a cute customer.”

“Hey, they had heelies, Hunk. _Heelies._ I was positive I was the only one who still realized how great heelies were!”

“You mean someone besides you still wears those terrible things?” Keith asks, horrified.

“What are heelies?” Allura asks.

“Only the best things ever!” Lance cries.

“Only the biggest fashion disaster ever!” Keith says.

“What do you know about fashion? You have a mullet!” Lance accuses.

“I don’t grow my hair like this on purpose, it has a mind of its own and I hate getting it cut!”

“Hey,” Pidge says, “Quit fighting for a second, yeah?”

“We’re not fighting,” Lance says, and Pidge claps a hand over his mouth.

“Shh, do you hear that?” She asks.

Everyone stops and listens. Lance does hear something.

“That’s the waves,” he says.

Pidge shakes her head. “I thought I heard like…thunder.”

Allura looks at the sky. “I mean, there might be a storm moving in, but I didn’t hear anything.”

Pidge looks uncertain. “Really? No one else heard it?”

“Maybe it’s Zapdos,” Hunk says off handedly, but Allura’s eyes widen.

“Actually, it might be.”

Pidge cries out, “There it is again! It’s coming from over there…” she takes off at a run, ducking under low hanging branches and going totally off the path.

“Wait, you’ll get lost!” Lance yells. “Sirius, follow her!”

Sirius takes off, moving a lot faster than Lance can, and making a much bigger dent in the forest than slim little Pidge did. Lance tracks Sirius by the broken branches and crushed plants it leaves in its wake, and eventually he bursts out of the jungle and on to the open expanses of the cliff tops, and he gasps as he sees a gigantic bird, just chilling on the open ground, bowing its head so Pidge can pat its head. Even from twenty feet away, Lance can feel the crackle of electricity radiating off the bird, and he can even smell the lightning.

“Wow,” Lance breathes.

The rest of the group comes crashing out of the jungle, and they all stop and stare at Zapdos as well. Pidge closes her eyes and presses her head against Zapdos’ and electricity crackles around them. Lance panics for a second, only too aware of what sparks can mean for people. Sirius flinches and hides behind Lance, he can feel it shaking and he kneels down and puts his arms around its shoulders.

“It’s okay,” Lance assures. “See, she’s not getting hurt.”

And indeed, Pidge is smiling, so she must be okay. She remains still for another minute, then backs away. Zapdos lets out a loud cry, then takes flight. It disappears into the sky in a matter of seconds, the only evidence that it was ever there at all is the lingering smell of ozone.

“Wow,” Pidge breathes. “That was amazing.”

“Did it tell you why it was here?” Allura asks nervously.

Pidge turns around, beaming. “Yeah, it just wanted to see me. It could tell that…well, lately I’ve been really stressed, wondering if I could do this, or if everyone was right and I really am just a little girl with no place in the Pokémon world, and wondering why Zapdos chose me. It felt that I was doubting myself and came to give me a confidence boost.”

Allura looks torn. “I’m…I’m glad that it came to you. Pidge, you can talk to us about that sort of thing. We’re a team.”

“I know,” Pidge says. “I do know that, I just…”

“People said that about me, too,” Allura says gently. “When I became head of this gym, plenty of people said I was too young, though my father was younger when he became head of the gym. They said I was just using my family name to get places, and that I hadn’t earned it.” She looks down. “At times like this, I also wonder if they were right.”

“But you’ve been amazing through all this!” Pidge says. “You always know what to do, how to strategize and keep us a step ahead.”

“But I don’t know if we are a step ahead,” Allura says quietly. “We won’t know until Team Galra attacks us next.” She shakes her head. “I may seem together on the outside, but inside…my head’s a mess.”

“You can talk to us about that, you know,” Shiro says, giving Allura’s words back to her.

She gives him a wry smile. “Yes, I suppose I can.”

Hunk gasps and slams his fist into his palm. “Oh, this is the beach episode!”

“Huh?” Keith asks, but Lance falls to the ground laughing.

“It happens in every anime,” Hunk says over Lance’s howling, “There’s an episode where the characters go to the beach and have life changing moments that bring them closer together. This is the beach episode of our anime.” He points to the ocean. “We may not be on the shore, but we’re at the water!”

“This isn’t an anime,” Keith says.

Lance throws his shoe at Keith. He misses, but the effect is the same. Keith glowers and Lance sticks his tongue out at him. “Don’t be a killjoy!” Lance says.

“I’m saying this now,” Hunk says, looking up at the sky as if expecting to see the face of god, “I don’t ever want to meet Regirock.”

“You don’t?” Lance asks.

“If I can avoid it,” Hunk says, “Because if I never see it, that means things are good.”

“I suppose that’s one way of thinking about it,” Lance says with a shrug.

“And hopefully, the universe listens to me!” Hunk says loudly.

“About time you all got here.”

Lance and Hunk scream and turn toward the jungle. Coran comes strutting out of the trees, carrying two picnic baskets in his hands.

“How did you get here?” Lance demands.

“I am a flying type trainer,” Coran says.

“Hey, that’s cheating!” Hunk accuses.

“Nope, that’s food preservation,” Coran says as he sets the baskets down. “Now, who wants sandwiches?”

Everyone is starving after that hike, so they put aside further questions in favor of stuffing their faces. It’s nice on the cliffs, the sun is strong but so is the breeze, and it keeps it from feeling too hot. Pidge pulls a collapsible umbrella out of her backpack and huddles under it, muttering that she burns like toast in a broken toaster, but she seems to be enjoying herself.

Once everyone’s eaten, Allura takes a notebook out of her bag and starts drawing, Hunk lays down and closes his eyes, and Shiro takes a deck of cards out of his pocket.

“Poker?” Shiro asks.

“I’m in,” Pidge says, and Coran and Keith agree to play as well.

“Lance?” Shiro asks.

Lance shakes his head. “I am going swimming.” He starts stripping, ignoring Keith as he sputters. “I’m wearing trunks!” Lance assures. He leaves his clothes in a pile and calls out his Pokémon, flinging the pokeballs in the direction of the water. Well, most of them. He has Blue land next to him, and he scoops her into his arms.

“Sirius, want to go swimming?” Lance asks as the rest of his Pokémon catapult over the edge of the cliff. Sirius curls up next to Hunk and closes its eyes.

“Alright then,” Lance says, and he runs toward the cliff, and a fifty foot drop.

“You’re going to die!” Keith screams, but Keith doesn’t know Lance’s Pokémon. Lance leaps off the cliff and lands on a jet of water, which lowers him gracefully to the ocean, courtesy of Gyarados. Once in the water, Lance allows Blue to swim off, and he plays hide and seek with Milotic, Gyarados, and Prinplup. His Azurill and Blastoise take a ride on Lapras’ back, and his Sharpedo dives deep into the water, enjoying the freedom to move about freely. It occurs to Lance that he has no idea how he’ll get back to the top of the cliff, but whatever. He’ll figure that out when the time comes. Until then, Milotic and Gyarados have changed the game—now it’s tag, and Lance is losing spectacularly.

After about an hour of playing, Lance starts getting worn down, and he swims over to the rocky edge of the cliff and has a seat on the narrow shore. He looks up at the top of the cliff, shading his eyes with his hand. Can he climb it? Can Gyarados blast him back up? This is a prime example of why he’s always getting in trouble, not that he’ll ever admit to it.

“Lance?” Coran calls down.

“I’m here!” Lance yells back.

“Need a lift?”

“If you’re offering!”

A Fearow sails down from the cliff, grabs Lance’s arms, and flies him to the top of the cliff. The landing is not a gentle one, but Lance doesn’t complain since he was legitimately concerned he’d be stuck at the base of the cliff. He gathers his pokeballs and calls his Pokémon back, then gets dressed. The rest of the group are starting to gather their things together.

“We moving on?” Lance asks.

“Yup,” Allura answers. “You still want to go to the waterfall?”

“Um, of course!” Lance cries.

Coran bids the group goodbye and says this time he’s actually going to stay at the gym. The rest of the group heads back into the trees, a bit of a spring in their steps now.

“Shiro, aren’t you currently the longest serving member of the Elite?” Hunk asks.

“I am indeed,” Shiro says. “I became a member when I was sixteen, I’m twenty five now.”

“Nearly ten years!” Pidge says, “How did you join so young?”

“Well, you have now beaten me,” Shiro points out. “I was a lot like you. I finished my required schooling early, completed a Pokémon training course, and was out catching and battling Pokémon when I was fourteen. I was actually a week away from my seventeenth birthday when I joined the Elite, but nobody likes to mention that, they just focus on the number sixteen. I was still the youngest until you came along, though.”

“Don’t most trainers leave the Elite after five years?” Lance asks. He read that statistic somewhere. “Not to sound rude but what’s kept you in it for so long?”

“It’s a good question,” Shiro says. “I guess I’m just…not done yet. I mean, yeah I get tired, but at the end of the day I always feel like I can do more. Ever since I joined the Elite I’ve just felt like I belonged here. I guess as long as my battle team and I can continue to serve in this gym, we will. Of course, it’s one thing to say that and another thing for it to actually happen. After all, no one really knows what the future holds. But for now, my future consists of keeping this gym safe and accepting challenges from hopeful trainers.”

“Why do so many trainers leave if they’re bonded to Lengendary Pokémon?” Pidge asks. “Don’t they give that up? Get hypnotized so they forget?”

“A lot of it is stress,” Allura says quietly. “It gets to you after a while, being responsible for so much.”

Shiro pats her shoulder, and Allura gives her head a little shake. “But I’ll never forget, not as long as I live here.”

“Really?” Lance asks. “I mean, I guess that makes sense, seeing as you live here. Did you always know Kyogre was on the island?”

“Not when I was a little kid,” Allura says, “My father told me when I was thirteen, and old enough to understand that it had to be a secret. He used a psychic Pokémon to put a block on those memories when I left home to start training, but took it off once I returned.”

“Put a block on your memories?” Hunk parrots, “That’s…is that legal?”

“It was my choice,” Allura says. “I knew what was at stake. I learned that just from watching my father. Of course, he tried to shelter me, but he was a leader of the Elite.” Her expression grows distant. “We’re one of the last families to actually retain ownership of a gym. Most families surrender the gym to the Elite, but my father…the gym means everything to him. Generations of my family have lived on this island and guarded Kyogre. We guarded Kyogre before there was a gym here!” She straightens and pounds a fist into a nearby tree. “And I’m not going to let some egomaniac with nine lives ruin what my family protected for hundreds of years! This gym will not fall on my watch!”

“Easy now,” Shiro says, “No one is saying you can’t do it.”

Allura kicks at the ground. She looks ready to breathe fire. “Sendak won’t take this gym. And if Zarkon thinks any of his other sheep can do it—”

“Who is Zarkon?” Hunk asks.

Allura pales. “Ah, damn it.”

“What do you know?” Keith asks.

Allura runs her hands through her hair. “I…don’t,” she admits. “Zarkon was head of Team Galra when my father battled them. He went missing in the battle that ended in the dissolution of Team Galra, but it wasn’t a surprise, a building exploded—”

“Exploded?!” Hunk and Lance cry at the same time.

“Lives were lost on both sides,” Allura says. “They thought Zarkon was one of the lost, but I don’t know anymore. I’ve been going over the old reports and this is just like how it started. If Zarkon isn’t calling the shots, it must be someone who was very close to him.” She turns to the rest of the team. “I planned to tell you about this when I had more information but…” she closes her eyes. “Ugh, everything is just so confusing.”

There’s a moment of silence, then Pidge clears her throat. “So, are we still going to the waterfall?”

“Does anyone want to?” Allura asks.

“I’m always up for a waterfall,” Lance says.

Shiro, Keith, and Pidge all nod, and they look to Hunk.

“I mean what the hell, why not?” Hunk says, rolling his eyes. “This is just normal conversation now, right?”

Allura starts walking again, and Pidge jogs up beside her. “Does that mean your father knows about all this?” Pidge asks. “Are you still in contact with him?”

“Sporadic contact,” Allura says. “He obviously can’t just come back and take over this investigation, as much as he may want to. I hear from him maybe twice a week, but we can’t exactly talk freely, not with all of NASA listening in.”

Lance leans over to Hunk. “What is Alfor doing again?” He asks.

Hunk looks at him incredulously. “He’s only in a space station orbiting Earth, looking for evidence of extraplanetary Pokémon.”

“You mean, space Pokémon?” Lance asks skeptically. “That sounds pretty unbelievable.”

“Unbelievable?” Hunk says, raising an eyebrow. “You live above a giant, talking whale Pokémon, a Pokémon that healed nerve damage in your hands with magic, nerve damage you got because you saved a Pokémon from a shock collar, a shock collar that was put there by people who want to use Legendary Pokémon to take over the world. Is space Pokémon really that far out there?”

Lance rolls his eyes. “Okay, but anything sounds believable when you say it like that.”

“We’re here!” Allura calls.

“But I don’t hear the waterfall,” Lance says.

“Well shut your pie hole and maybe you will,” Keith calls back.

And actually, now that he’s not talking, Lance does hear the waterfall, and when he and Hunk edge through the trees they see it. It’s about thirty feet high, pretty narrow, but at the base of the waterfall is a lovely pool, and a bubbling stream that Lance can see has Magikarp swimming in it.

As the team sets down their gear once more, Sirius moves cautiously to the edge of the pool and sniffs at the water. Lance decides to just call Blue out, and he’s not afraid to let her run freely towards the pool and go splashing into it. She lets out happy trills as she plays, and Sirius paws at the water and yips.

Lance sighs. “Uh…Keith?”

“Yeah?”

“Can fire type Pokémon swim?”

Keith glances at Sirius. “Sirius can, if it wants to. A Pokémon like Charizard shouldn’t go swimming, but an Arcanine can, it doesn’t have a fire on its body that it needs to keep burning.”

Lance feels like he’s got a slice of lemon in his mouth. This whole ‘being civil with Keith’ thing is taking some getting used to. “Have you ever taught one of yours to swim?”

“None of them ever had an interest,” Keith says.

“So I’m on my own,” Lance says with a sigh.

“I didn’t say that,” Keith says. He goes to the edge of the pool and dips his feet into the water. He ruffles Sirius’ fur. “Looks like fun, right?” Keith asks, motioning towards Blue.

Sirius yips again, tail wagging. It paws at the water, then darts away. Keith looks back at Lance, who has just finished undressing. “Maybe Lance can help you,” Keith says.

Lance jumps into the water. The pool is deepest under the waterfall, but around the edges of it, Lance can stand and the water comes up to his shoulder. He calls Blue over and she swims to his side, and Lance holds her around the middle. “I can hold you like this,” Lance says to Sirius.

Sirius back away from the water, tail between its legs. Lance vaults out of the pool. “How about we try the stream?” He asks, pointing to the slightly shallower water a few yards away. He and Sirius walk away from the pool, and Lance stands in the stream. The water is only up to his knees, and after a moment of consideration, Sirius splashes in after him. At first it seems a little unsure, but it’s soon splashing around, chasing the water as it rushes past and nipping at the droplets that splash up against the exposed rocks. It bounds past Lance, splashing him, and Lance playfully splashes back. When Sirius doesn’t seem put off, Lance splashes a little more, and Sirius runs in circles around Lance, yipping happily.

For a while Lance and Sirius play in the shallow stream, but a joyful shout and splash from the pool gets their attention. Pidge has taken a running leap into the water, and she pops up in the middle of the pool, Blue perched on her head.

“Want to try?” Lance asks Sirius.

Sirius cocks its head to the side, then starts towards the pool. Lance jogs ahead, and gets into the pool first.

“You won’t be able to touch,” Lance warns. “But I can hold you.”

Sirius is a little too eager to hear that. It leaps, and lands with a loud smack on the surface of the water. Lance barely manages to get his arms under it’s body, and Sirius starts yelping and flailing.

“Easy!” Keith yells, and next thing Lance knows, Keith is on Sirius’ other side, sliding his arms under Sirius’ belly. “Calm down,” Keith orders firmly. He jumped in with his clothes on, the giant nerd, but Lance can’t even make fun of him for it since Keith is helping him.

With Keith’s order, Sirius stops flailing. Its sides are heaving with erratic breaths, and its eyes dart around nervously.

Pidge swims over. “It’s okay,” she says softly. “Your trainer has got you.” She holds out her hand, and Sirius sniffs it. Pidge pats its head, and after a few minutes Sirius relaxes enough for Keith to withdraw his arms. Lance walks slowly around the edge of the pool, so Sirius can get used to the feel of moving water. The Pokémon starts paddling, and as it gains confidence, Lance slowly loosens his hold on it. After a while, he withdraws his arms completely, and Sirius takes a lap around the pool by itself.

“Way to go!” Lance cheers pumping his fist in the air as Sirius swims back to him. Lance scoops it back into his arms and hugs it. “I’m so proud of you!”

Sirius licks Lance’s face, slobbering all over him. He carries Sirius out of the pool and coos at it, “Who’s a big, brave puppy? You’re a big brave puppy! What a good baby you are, so big and strong and precious!” Sirius eats up the praise, looking at Lance with stars in its eyes.

After making sure that Sirius is well settled on the grass, Lance quickly jumps back in the pool to wash the slobber off his face and collect Blue. He spent a lot more time teaching Sirius to swim than he realized—the shadow across the water proves that. It’s time to start heading back to the gym in earnest.

Everyone dries off and gets dressed (Keith has his Braixen dry his clothes for him), and they once more begin picking their way through the trees. This time though, everyone is confident as they walk. They’ve learned how to spot areas that are safe to step on, how to watch their feet and heads at the same time, and do it all while holding a conversation.

“This was really a good idea,” Lance admits.

“Sometimes I do know what I’m talking about,” Shiro says.

“Of course, it would be a lot different in the dark,” Allura says, “Maybe I should order some night vision glasses for everyone, and we can have bags packed in case of a late night emergency…” she continues, and Lance listens with half an ear.

As fun as today was, it’s true that it only happened because of a necessity to be familiar with the environment. Lance guesses that’s just how things are going to be from now on; everything they do will have something to do with Team Galra, directly or indirectly.

As they approach the gym, Lance weirdly remembers something from weeks ago, and he’s not sure why he remembers it, but he turns to Keith and asks, “Didn’t you say you’d never met Entei?”

“I did say that,” Keith confirms. “Why?”

“Well, don’t you want to meet it?” Lance asks.

Keith smiles slightly. “I’m in the same camp as Hunk. If I never see it, it’s probably a good thing, because it means I can handle whatever is thrown at me.”

Something about the way he says it rubs Lance the wrong way—like Keith is implying that he can handle things on his own, for all his talk about there being no ‘I’ in team. And Lance wonders just when he started worrying about Keith handling things being thrown at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is the longest chapter. 
> 
> Things you may have missed in all the action but are details that I love and want you to love:  
> Shiro and Allura are morning people  
> Coran is a soap opera addict  
> Hunk has 3 moms  
> Alfor is alive and looking for space Pokémon  
> “This is the beach episode” or in the case of season 2, “the mall episode”


	7. Just One Mistake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains loss of limb due to an explosive device. Be warned I know nothing about explosive devices and I was NOT about to google that stuff too much.

The day after the hike through the island, Lance wakes up feeling like he just got smacked over the head with a frying pan. He races out of his room and into the dining room, not even bothering to put a shirt on or wait for Sirius and Blue to follow him.

“SHIRO!” Lance screams as he bursts into the dining room.

Shiro jumps and his Skitty almost falls into his cereal bowl. “What’s happening?” He demands, looking around. He’s the only one in the room, it must still be relatively early.

Lance points to him. “You are easily the strongest person on this island. I need you to try to throw me.”

Shiro switches from panic to confusion. “Huh?”

“When Team Galra attacked us, I ended up outside because one of them grabbed me, picked up—like with my feet off the ground up—and threw me out of the building and I flew like, fifteen feet away! I can’t believe I forgot about it because at the time I was in shock and I guess with all that’s going on it’s understandable but Shiro, that is not normal!” Lance screams the last part and he clutches his head. “This guy threw me like a football! Can human beings do that?!”

Shiro hurries over to Lance and puts his hands on Lance’s shoulders. “Easy now,” He says, voice calm and even. “Deep breath, Lance.”

Lance closes his eyes and inhales. “Sorry,” he says, “I didn’t mean to throw all that in your face I just…” he opens his eyes again. “How do you fight someone like that?”

“Well, you’re right that it’s not normal,” Shiro says. “Adrenaline is one thing that can make people strong, but I don’t know about that strong. Did he use one hand, or two?”

“One hand, I think,” Lance says hesitantly. “I really don’t remember but I’m pretty sure it was just the one hand.”

Shiro back away slightly and runs a hand through his hair. “Okay,” he says to himself. “Okay…that really isn’t normal. I’m going to go find Allura, the security tapes were fuzzy but maybe they caught something of that. You um…” Shiro glances at Lance, and he realizes he’s just wearing his sleep shorts.

“I’ll go get dressed,” Lance says. And brush his teeth.

“Meet you in the office,” Shiro calls as Lance takes off down the hall.

Lance only gets a little way down the hall before a door flies open and almost kills him. No surprise, it’s Keith’s door.

“Watch it!” Lance cries.

“What were you screaming about?” Keith asks, rubbing one eye. He is also shirtless. “It’s like, 6 AM.”

Oh, that is early. Lance opens his mouth to answer, then gapes and points at Keith’s bare arm. “What is that?!”

Keith looks where Lance is pointing. “A tattoo,” Keith says, like Lance is an infant.

“I know that!” Lance snaps, “Why is it on you? What even—are you old enough for that shit?” he can’t stop staring at the tattoo. It’s simple, no color, just black lines forming a blade that covers Keith’s right upper arm.

“Not that it’s any of your business but yes,” Keith says, rolling his eyes. “Now was something wrong, that you’re screaming at 6AM?”

“Huh? No,” Lance says, shaking his head. “Bye.” And he runs to his room and shuts the door. Blue and Sirius pick their heads up and glare at him.

Lance slumps down against the door. Not only does Keith have a tattoo, he’s also got pretty decent muscles. It’s weird, his legs are the scrawniest things but his arms? Dang.

Maybe…maybe Lance got thrown so far because he’s a twig. Oh sure he works out, but swimming makes for lean muscles, not the bulky ones gained from lifting weights like Shiro and probably Keith do. Maybe Lance needs to bulk up a bit before the next attack on the gym. Maybe that’s what he needs to do now. He trains his Pokémon to be stronger, maybe he should train himself, too.

Which brings Lance back to why he’s up at 6 AM, ran screaming from his room, and then back to it in the first place. He leaps up, dresses and brushes his teeth, and this time when he runs from the room, Sirius is right behind him, Blue riding on Sirius’ shoulders. The three of them burst into the main office, where Shiro and Allura are seated behind a desk and squinting at a computer screen.

“Hey, Lance,” they greet.

“Find anything?” Lance asks.

“Come see,” Allura says. Lance squeezes in behind the desk and looks at the screen. The picture is fuzzy, but he sees the guy who threw him.

“That’s him,” Lance says, pointing. “He threw me.”

Shiro turns to Allura. “Can you sharpen the image anymore?”

“I doubt it,” Allura says, but she starts typing. “They shocked the security cameras right away, the footage we did get looks like it was shot on a flip phone…” the picture clears a little, and Allura sighs. “I’m afraid this is as good as it gets.”

“It’s good enough,” Shiro assures. “I can tell this guy isn’t jacked, at least. And I don’t see how he could have thrown Lance that far using only one hand.”

“I scratched him,” Lance remembers. “He picked me up by my shirt collar and I clawed at his fist.”

Shiro pales. “Damn,” he whispers. “I think they might be on some kind of drugs.”

“No!” Allura cries.

“I could be wrong, but that’s…inhuman, that strength.”

Allura slams her hands on the desk and exhales through clenched teeth. “Zarkon…are there no depths to which he won’t sink? It’s not enough he ruins Pokémon, he ruins people as well? His own people?” Her voice breaks and she puts her head in her hands. “He has to be stopped.”

Shiro puts his hand on her shoulder. “We’ll get him. It’s not just us anymore, it’s all the Elites. We’re all working to take him down.”

Allura lifts her head. “And this time we’ll make sure to end him properly. No assumptions. One way or another, Zarkon will face justice for this.”

Lance scurries out from behind the desk and back to the dining room. Coran and Keith are setting the table, and Lance walks up to Keith and grabs him.

“I need help,” Lance says.

“With?” Keith asks.

Lance takes a deep breath. “I need to get stronger, physically. I need to learn to fight.”

Keith nods. “Okay. I can help you with that. But can it wait until after breakfast?”

Lance nods and sits down so he can have something to eat, too.

“I’m always glad to see members of the Elite taking their personal training seriously,” Coran says, “But Lance, can I ask what brought this on?”

Lance sighs as he stirs sugar into his coffee. “Shiro and Allura think that Team Galra are doping.”

Coran drops the plate he’s holding. “What the quiznak?” He cries.

“Quiznak?” Lance asks.

“Crimes against humanity,” Coran mutters, his expression dark. “I can’t take much more of this.” He stalks out of the dining room, leaving Lance and Keith in shock.

“Is he quitting?” Lance asks in a whisper.

Keith looks lost. “I…I don’t know.”

They finish their breakfast in silence, or what they can finish of it. When they both admit that they can’t eat anymore, they head to the gym. Looking to lighten the mood, Lance asks what’s been on his mind since seeing Keith’s tattoo.

“Did it hurt? The tattoo?”

Keith snorts. “Of course. But it wasn’t life ending pain, just a means to an end. It actually wasn’t my first tattoo.”

“You have more?” Lance asks.

Keith turns and pulls up the back of his shirt; there are four paw prints tattooed over his back. “Flareon’s paw prints, in the exact place she likes to sit when I lay on my stomach.”

“That is actually really freaking cute,” Lance says. “You must really love your Flareon…wait, it’s a girl?!”

Keith drops his shirt and smirks. “Yeah. Why, does it make you a little less miffed that Blue is flirting?”

“No way!” Lance sputters, “Blue is still far too young for a relationship, I’ve just never read about same-sex flirting between Pokémon!”

“I have,” Keith says with a shrug. “Now, are we going to talk about tattoos and Pokémon, or are we going to work out?”

Lance glowers. “Work out. So what’s first?”

Keith sits on the floor. “First, we stretch.”

It takes all of Lance’s self-control to do exactly what Keith tells him to, and to not read too much into the frown on Keith’s face or the way he sometimes sighs when Lance’s arms shake under a weight. He’s probably not ridiculing Lance in his head, he’s probably not thinking that Lance is a weakling, he’s probably not regretting agreeing to help…

After an hour Keith says, “That’s enough for today. I don’t want to push you too hard.”

Lance finally snaps. “We can’t all be muscle maniacs!” He shouts. “I may not be you or Shiro but I’m not a wimp! If you didn’t want to help me you didn’t have to!”

Keith looks shocked. “Lance I…” he sighs. “You did well today, Lance.”

“Then what’s with the face and the—” Lance lets out a heavy sigh, exaggerating slightly but Keith has been sighing all morning. “You act like I’m pulling your teeth out!”

“Not everything is about you,” Keith snaps. “I’ve got a lot on my mind too, okay? You’re not the only one who’s worried about Team Galra being too strong to take down, or about Coran quitting, or one of our own getting hurt!”

The two of them glare at each other for a few long minutes, then they each rub a hand over their faces and sigh.

“Sorry,” Lance mutters.

“Me, too,” Keith says. “You’ve…not to sound rude, but you’ve got some self-esteem issues, don’t you?”

Lance shrugs. “Yeah I…guess so.”

“Look, I know you’re not a wimp,” Keith says, “But working to build muscle, lifting muscle, it takes a lot of work, work that you’re not used to. I’m not taking it easy on you, but I’m not pushing you too far either. I know you want to bulk up but it’s going to take some time. If I push you too hard, it makes me no different from Zarkon, doping his Team members.”

“That really got to you, didn’t it?” Lance asks.

Keith sits down and leans against the weight lifting bench. “How much do you know about my family?”

“Nothing,” Lance says. “Just that you’re an orphan.”

Keith nods. “My mom died when I was little. My dad was a Pokémon trainer, and he worked in a gym that was…well, understaffed. It was hard on him after my mom died, he had to pay for my school and my babysitters, make rent, and take care of his battle team. He worked a lot, more than he should have.” Keith takes a deep breath. “He…took performance enhancing drugs, and he got caught by a random drug test. He was dismissed from the gym and labeled a cheater. It was hard for him to get work after that. I was really little, but I remember that we didn’t have a lot for a while. One day dad went out and just…never came back. My babysitter called the cops, and they looked for him, but…they never found him, and he never came back.” He takes a deep breath. “So yeah, the possibility that Zarkon is either forcing or allowing his Team members to take those kinds of drugs really rubs me the wrong way. Those things are dangerous, they make for unfair fights, and they ruined my dad’s life, and mine to an extent.”

“Jesus,” Lance whispers. “I had no idea.”

Keith shakes his head. “That kind of surprises me, to be honest. That was one of the other reasons kids picked on me, my father was a cheater. You didn’t hear them?”

“I don’t pay attention to what people say about others,” Lance says.

“No, just what they say about you?” Keith asks.

Lance opens his mouth to deny it, then closes it again. “I guess.”

“So you trust only your opinion about others, but you trust other’s opinions about yourself?” Keith asks with a bit of a smile.

“Okay, it sounds ridiculous,” Lance agrees, rolling his eyes.

“And like something most of the rest of the population does,” Keith says. “I’m not saying it’s an easy thing to change but…come on, have a little faith in yourself.”

Lance nods. “Yeah, I think I’ll do that.”

Keith gets to his feet and holds his hand out to Lance, and Lance takes it. Keith pulls Lance to his feet, and the two of them turn to leave the gym. Then a siren shatters the quiet of the gym, and Lance covers his ears with a scream.

“What is that?!” Lance shouts.

Allura’s voice echoes through the gym. “Intruders on the island! They’re flying down by the radio tower!”

Lance and Keith take off running for the front of the gym and run into Pidge, Hunk, and Shiro on the way. Allura meets them in the front entrance, fire blazing in her eyes.

“It looks like they’re trying to take down the radio tower, if they do that we’ll have no way to send and receive signals from our alert systems around the island, and our signal to the mainland will be severely weakened, we’ll be sitting ducks for a bigger attack!” She throws them each an earbud. “Coran and I will stay here and keep an eye on them, make sure they don’t target any other places on the island. You guys, get to the tower and keep them away from it! Those earbuds allow me to track your location as well as communicate with you from here.”

Everyone puts in their earbuds, and Lance presses a pokeball into Allura’s hands.

“It’s Blue,” He says, heart in his mouth. “Don’t let them get her.”

Allura nods. “I won’t.”

The five of them take off. As they race into the jungle, Lance hears the clatter of the hurricane shields coming down over the windows. If Allura and Coran need to get out, they’ll be able to do so via an underground tunnel, but hopefully, Team Galra won’t be able to break into the gym like they did last time.

The hike through the jungle really did help. Lance feels more comfortable as he navigates over fallen branches and slippery leaves. Shiro is in the lead, and over the pounding of blood in his ears and the sound of his own feet hitting the ground, Lance can hear Allura giving them all instructions on which way to go, but it hardly registers with Lance, until Allura lets out a scream.

_“STOP, STOP!”_

Everyone skids to a halt.

_“C-4 explosives, I repeat, Team Galra is planting explosives at the base of the radio tower, get back to the gym immediately and prepare to take cover!”_

Lance’s blood runs cold in his veins. These people are bombing the radio tower?! But instead of turning around and heading to the gym, all at once all five of them continue racing to the tower.

 _“What are you doing!?”_ Allura cries.

“We can’t just let them blow it up,” Shiro says, “You said yourself, we’ll be sitting ducks! They’re obviously preparing for a larger attack, maybe sending in every single member of the team to surround the island from all sides and take Kyogre, we can’t let that happen!”

 _“Shiro, don’t!”_ Allura shouts.

“I can diffuse it!” Shiro says.

_“Six months of training is not enough! I’m already calling the special forces, do not risk this, that is a direct order!”_

The five of them burst through the trees and into the clearing around the radio tower. Four members of Team Galra are present, and they’re each mounting a flying Pokémon. The radio towers is surrounded by wires and bundles of white blocks. This is terrifyingly real.

“Tyranitar, go!” Hunk cries.

“Ninetails, go!” Keith shouts.

“Raichu, come on out!” Pidge calls.

“Blastoise, let’s go!” Lance yells, tossing his pokeball up in the air. The Pokémon emerge and each trainer calls out attacks, but Team Galra are ascending fast. Blastoise and Tyranitar manage to hit two of the retreating Pokémon, but they don’t turn to fight, or even slow down. Lance can hear a crackle of electricity and he grits his teeth.

“Why are you doing this?!” Lance screams. “This is not how a real trainer treats their Pokémon!”

None of the retreating Galra members respond to him, and Lance feels an ache in his chest. He’s failed the Pokémon who need help today.

“Everyone get back!” Shiro shouts. Lance looks over to him—he’s crouched in front of the main component of the explosive device. “There’s not a lot of time to diffuse this, I’m going to disconnect the detonator from the explosives and run the main explosive component into the jungle where it won’t hurt anyone.”

“Main explosive—what are you talking about?” Keith shouts.

“GET BACK!” Shiro yells. He takes a knife from his belt and starts cutting the wires. Something begins beeping rapidly. “The detonator is attached, I can’t separate it without blowing the whole thing, but I can make sure the blast will be smaller and away from the tower.” He picks the thing up, and turns to the rest of the group. He’s eerily calm. “Now get out of here!” He yells, and he starts running.

Time seems to slow down. Shiro has just picked up a bomb and is running away with it. Something has to be done. In a moment of clarity, Lance knows what it is.

“KYOGRE, I NEED YOU!”

But Lance isn’t the only one to call for his Legendary Pokémon.

“ZAPDOS!”

“REGIROCK!”

“ENTEI!”

There’s a silence, then a blinding flash of light and a crack like thunder, but a hundred times louder.

Keith screams.

A rush of hot air washes over the group and sends them flying backwards, and then there’s a loud ringing sound.

Lance opens his eyes and scrambles to his feet. His ears are ringing, drowning out the pounding of his own heart. He searches wildly for an apocalyptic scene—fire, smoke, blood and body parts—but the jungle looks the same as it did before the explosion. Except, there’s a group of Legendary Pokémon standing twenty feet away from the radio tower.

Dialga, Zapdos, Regirock, and Entei are standing together, and standing protectively over Shiro as he lies sprawled out on the ground.

Keith lets out a sound like a wounded animal and runs to Shiro’s side. “Is he dead?!”

Dialga bows its head over Shiro. “No, he lives.”

Lance falls to his knees, stomach churning.

“His arm!” Keith shouts, “What happened?”

Lance looks up, but he can’t see from where he is.

Dialga speaks again. “Shiro called on me, but I was too late to keep the blast from happening at all. I stopped time, I managed to keep the blast from killing Shiro, but the arm that held the explosive could not be saved.”

Entei approaches Keith and lays its head on Keith’s shoulder. Lance can’t hear what it says, but it murmurs something to Keith.

Lance gets to his feet and walks closer. Shiro’s right arm is…it’s encased in metal, or is it now made of metal?

“What is that?” Lance hears himself ask.

Dialga “We have created a new arm for Shiro, to replace the one that was lost. There was no saving it, but in sacrificing something precious to save the gym, to save Kyogre, we were able to come together to grant Shiro something precious.”

Lance turns away and throws up, and he’s not the only one. Hunk is retching, and Pidge has her hands clasped over her mouth.

Tears sting Lance’s eyes. He didn’t sign up for this, for a world where people lose limbs to bombs. He’s supposed to be a gym leader, not a soldier. Shiro has now lost his arm in the fight against Team Galra, what else will be lost to them? Will it be another limb? Someone’s sight? A life?

A blast of static sounds through the device in Lance’s ear and Allura shouts.

_“What happened?”_

Lance looks up. The Legendary Pokémon have disappeared, the only sign that any of this ever happened is Shiro’s arm.

“We need help,” Lance says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things you may have missed in all the action but are details that I love and want you to love:  
> “Shiro I need you to throw me”  
> Keith has 2 (5? If you count individual paw prints) tattoos—the sword is his Marmora blade, which I had to write in somehow  
> Team Galra take steroids (this is inspired by the Beta Traz episode)  
> Keith’s dad left him after being disgraced as a gym leader  
> Coran said "quiznak"  
> Keith's Flareon is a girl!


	8. I Could Scream Forever

Lance isn’t present in the gym when Shiro first wakes up—he’s under the gym, in the pool with Kyogre and Milotic, joined by Blue.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to physically be there for you,” Kyogre says to Lance. “I was there in spirit. I could see what happened.”

“I suppose it wasn’t an ideal place for you to pop up in,” Lance agrees. He’s floating on his back, every now and then he feels Milotic’s fins brush his legs. He wishes he could stay in the cavern and stare at the ceiling forever. He wishes he could be a mermaid, go live deep under water and never face Team Galra again. He bets mermaids don’t have life or death battles to fight.

“You can leave,” Kyogre says gently.

“Did you pick me because I was a quitter?” Lance asks harshly.

“I didn’t pick you, you picked me,” Kyogre says.

Lance touches the metal chip around his neck. “I guess I did.”

“And I would never hold you here against your will,” Kyogre says. “I know you are a fighter and a blessing to this Team, but your service to the gym can’t come at the cost of your own wellbeing. If it’s too much, you can walk away.”

“It wasn’t all bad,” Lance says. He’s got Sirius now, and he’s met a bunch of great trainers, the ones he works and lives with, as well as the ones he’s battled against. He’s gotten to explore this beautiful island and swim with Kyogre. He’s bonded with Milotic, and the rest of his battle team, more in the last month than he has in years as a trainer. Being a member of the Elite has been amazing…and terrifying.

What would Lance even do if he left the gym? Allura said he would forget Kyogre, would he forget Team Galra as well, or would he always remember their cruelties? How would Shiro’s arm factor into his memories if he left? Would he forget that? Would he ever see Shiro, or Keith, or Allura ever again if he left?

Lance rolls onto his front and dives. He comes face to face with Milotic and he nuzzles his head, and Milotic gently pushes him to the surface, like he needs to be reminded to breathe.

“Thanks, boo,” Lance says, giving Milotic a pat. “I haven’t forgotten about finding you a mate, I just…haven’t had the time to look.”

Milotic gives Lance’s cheek a lick, then he swims under Lance and lifts him out of the water and onto his back. Lance pets Milotic’s scales, lost in thought. That could be his next mission, if he left the gym. He could breed Milotic, raise little baby Feebas for other trainers. He could enter Miltoic into the pageant circuit, or even Blue, he bets they could both be winners.

But that idea just doesn’t feel right. Somehow, Lance doesn’t think he’d forgive himself if he left the team now. He’s got to prove to himself that he can stick it out.

Keith’s words come back to him. _“Not to sound rude, but you’ve got some self-esteem issues, don’t you?”_

“Jerk, that sounded rude anyway,” Lance mutters. If he’s just sticking around to prove something to himself, does it count as adding to a toxic environment?

Lance sighs and rolls off of Milotic. He swims over to Kyogre and leans against it. “I’ll stay for a little while longer, at least,” he says.

There’s a sudden wailing sound and Lance almost has a heart attack, but he realizes that it’s not the wail of a siren, but a very unhappy Skitty. He scrambles from the water and finds Shiro’s Skitty on the shore, her tail lashing back and forth, and looking like a very pissed off little thing.

“What are you doing here?” Lance asks.

“She requests that you take her to her trainer right away,” Kyogre says, “No one will let her into Shiro’s room.”

Lance can’t imagine what the reasoning behind that would be. He gets dressed and calls back Blue, and Milotic swims to shore and looks at Lance expectantly.

“Oh, are you ready to come back?” Lance asks happily.

Milotic nods, and Lance calls it back. At least something good happened today. He tucks the pokeballs into his belt holster and scoops Skitty off the cavern floor. He’s about to leave, then turns and walks back to Kyogre, and holds Skitty out towards it.

“Can you ask Skitty for her name?”

Kyogre is silent for a moment, then chuckles. “Her name is Princess.”

“Thanks,” Lance says, and he walks back to the tunnel, scratching Princess behind her ears. “Alright Princess, let’s get you to Shiro.”

 

Lance had no idea how much time he spent in Kyogre’s cavern. It was noon when he went into the tunnel, and it’s pitch black when he emerges from it. He makes his way into the gym, and glances at the clock in the hallway.

3:22. Dang, no wonder it’s so quiet.

Lance goes to the medical ward and opens the door. Shiro is still asleep, and Keith is slumped over in a chair beside the bed, but he snaps awake as Lance walks into the room.

“What time is it?” Keith asks, rubbing his eyes.

“3 AM,” Lance answers.

Keith looks wide-eyed at Princess. “We’re keeping his Pokémon away, we don’t know how they’ll react to his arm.”

“She came to me,” Lance says defensively. “She wanted to see him.”

Princess leaps from Lance’s arms and lands on the bed. She steps over Shiro’s prosthetic arm and curls up on his chest, tucking her tail over her nose. A moment later she starts purring. Lance could swear he sees Shiro smile in his sleep.

“Has he woken up at all?” Lance asks.

Keith nods. "It was just for a minute, and he was pretty out of it."

Keith has kicked off his shoes and drawn his feet up on the chair. He looks so…young. Lance remembers that he and Keith are the same age—Keith may have been a member of the Elite first, but they’re both just nineteen. Lance pulls another chair up beside Keith’s and settles into it.

“Dialga came here,” Keith says. His voice is flat. “Explained a few things to Allura, checked up on Shiro. Said it would come back when he woke up. Said that the prosthetic would function like an organic human arm and even better. It’ll be able to take bullets, cut through metal, crush rocks. I guess it’ll come in handy when Team Galra comes back.”

“If he decides to stay,” Lance says before he can help himself.

Keith swallows hard. “I…never thought I’d see the day Shiro might want to leave. Some selfish part of me hopes he won’t. He and I grew up in the same town, he was another person who stuck up for me when my dad left. I joined the Elites, this team specifically, because of him. He’s been like a brother to me for years. If he left the Team I don’t…I don’t know what I would do.”

“Shiro would want you to do what you thought was best for you,” Lance says. “Even if he stays and you don’t want to.”

Keith snorts. “Entei said that to me. Said I could call on it if I needed to, that I could leave if I needed to.”

“Kyogre said the same to me.”

Keith growls. “It makes me want to stay and fight for them even more. It’s not right, they’re so powerful, but so vulnerable. Because they’ve been around for so long, people like Team Galra learn from the mistakes of those who failed to capture the Legendaries previously. The most powerful Pokémon in the world can’t even be free, because they’re under constant threat.”

“I know, right?” Lance says. “I want to swim in the open ocean with Kyogre just once, I want to watch it ride a wave with Gyarados and dive as deep as it possibly can.”

Keith runs a hand through his hair. “I never want to forget about Entei or Kyogre, or any of the Legendaries. But if I don’t leave today or next week, or even twenty years from now, I’ll still have to leave someday. I’ll get old and tired, and I’ll have to forget.” His voice breaks and he takes a few deep breaths. “Is it even worth it in the end, if no one remembers what I do?”

“Entei will remember,” Lance says. “Kyogre will remember.” He gets an idea. “Maybe we can record messages, for future Elite members. Maybe they can be kept on file in the gym. Allura said this gym will always be here to protect Kyogre, so that means the information will always be here. Future trainers can watch our videos and read our letters, and all that. So it’ll be there for people to remember.”

Keith looks at Lance wide-eyed. “That’s…a pretty good idea.”

“I’m in,” a weak voice mutters.

Keith and Lance jump about a foot in the air.

“Shiro?” They yelp at the same time.

Shiro chuckles. “I’m alive,” he croaks.

“Yeah and I’m about to kill you!” Keith shrieks. “What the hell, man? You could have died! You damn near did die!”

Shiro opens his eyes and turns to Keith. “I’m sorry,” he whispers.

Keith crumples to his knees by Shiro’s side. He grabs Shiro’s hand—his flesh and bone hand—and clings to it. And Keith sobs. He bows his head and cries, and Shiro shakes his hand free of Keith’s grasp to rest on the back of his head.

“’M sorry, kiddo,” Shiro says hoarsely.

Lance leaves the room. He waits outside for a few minutes, counting off the seconds in his head, and when he feels like enough time has passed, he runs to the main desk and picks up the phone, dialing the PA system.

“SHIRO’S AWAKE!” Lance screams into the loudspeaker.

Less than a minute later, all the trainers have gathered in Shiro’s room, looking on with baited breath as Coran raises his bed into an upright position.

“Are you in pain?” Allura asks.

“A little,” Shiro admits, looking down at his prosthetic arm. He flexes the fingers and curls them into a fist. Princess is cradled in his other arm, and she stretches out her head to sniff Shiro’s other arm. He flinches back and she swats at him. Shiro chuckles and allows her to sniff his hand.

“Guess it doesn’t bother her,” he says.

“Does it bother you?” Keith asks.

“It…feels weird,” Shiro says. “Most of the pain is where it connects with the rest of my arm, but it’s not an unimaginable pain. More like…a chafing feeling. The rest of it…it’s just weird.”

A deep voice says, “That will pass with time.”

Everyone jumps and turns to the door, where Dialga, freaking Dialga, is poking its head into the room. It looks a lot less massive in the gym than it did earlier, out in the jungle.

“Will I fit?” The Legendary Pokémon asks quietly.

“O-of course,” Allura stammers.

Dialga bows its head and slips into the room. “Pardon the intrusion,” it says, “I wanted to ensure that Shiro is alright.” Dialga leans over Shiro’s arm, inspecting it. “Can you move your fingers for me, so I can check the movement? Wiggle them, form a fist, and so on?”

Shiro does as Dialga says, and the Pokémon rattles off a few other tests. After a while, it lifts its head to look Shiro in the eye.

“I am sorry I couldn’t save your arm,” Dialga says. “I know this isn’t an idea solution, but this technology will serve you far better than any prosthetic available at this point in time. To anyone who does not know about the Legendary Pokémon, it will look like a flesh and blood limb.”

“I suppose it’s better that way,” Shiro says.

Dialga nuzzles his head. “You were very brave. Foolish, perhaps, but brave. I have never met another trainer like you, one I so deeply wanted to protect.”

Lance’s heart twists. He backs out of the room, and once in the hallway he takes off for his bedroom and shuts himself inside. He collapses on his bed and cries. He grabs his pillow and screams into it, over and over until his throat is raw. He wants to throw something, he wants to destroy something, he wants to start a fire and watch it burn. He’s never felt a rage like this before. It’s so unfair that people like Team Galra would attempt to take advantage of the Legendary Pokémon, Pokémon that have so much love to give! Dialga is no different from Princess, both love Shiro so much, both want to be there for him, but Dialga is forced to hide, to only show up when Shiro is in dire need of help.

Lance wants to see a world where it’s not just Kyogre that can be free, but all the Pokémon. Where Dialga can steal milk from Shiro’s cereal bowl, Pidge can fly with Zapdos, Keith can explore volcanoes with Entei, Allura can go stargazing with Cresselia, and Hunk can go spelunking with Regirock. Things Pokémon and trainers should be able to do together, but things that the Legendaries have probably never experienced.

“Buddy?”

Lance picks up his head and wipes his eyes. “I’m okay,” he says, his voice shaking.

Hunk chuckles. “C’mon, I know you’re not.”

Lance curls up on his bed and hugs his pillow. Hunk sits on the edge of the bed and pats Lance’s ankle.

“Are you gonna leave?” Lance asks, his voice muffled by the pillow.

“Nah,” Hunk says. “If you asked me a week ago…I might have said yes. But oddly enough, after today, I just want to fight even more.”

Lance’s eyes sting with tears again. “It’s so unfair.”

Hunk gets up and holds out his hand. “Come on, we’re going to go let off some steam.”

Lance takes his hand, and Hunk hauls him to his feet. They leave the gym, and Lance follows Hunk behind the building, through a narrow path, and after a few minutes they come to the edge of a small cliff. In the distance, Lance can see where the island rises further, and on either side he can see where the cliffs curve to form the islands’ crescent shape.

“I had no idea we were so close to the edge of the island,” Lance says.

“I found this place the other day,” Hunk says. He stoops down and picks a rock up from the ground. He takes a deep breath and bellows, “I FUCKING HATE TEAM GALRA!” And then he flings the rock out towards the ocean.

Lance is in shock, for one thing because Hunk never curses, for another because he never yells unless it’s a scream of fright, and finally because the sound really echoes here.

Hunk laughs, and the sound bounces off the surrounding cliffs. “It’s pretty cathartic,” he says. “To scream into the open air and just throw something as hard as you can.” He picks up another rock and tosses it to Lance. “Give it a try.”

Lance turns to the ocean. He grips the rock tightly in his fist and screams, “I WISH THE LEGENDARY POKÉMON COULD BE FREE!” And he flings the rock away.

Hunk was right, it is cathartic. Lance picks up another rock. “NO POKÉMON DESERVES TO BE TREATED THE WAY TEAM GALRA TREATS THEM!” He screams.

He and Hunk keep scooping rocks from the ground, flinging them over the edge of the cliff, and screaming.

“TEAM GALRA GIVE ME NIGHTMARES!” Hunk yells.

Lance laughs, somewhat hysterical. “TEAM GALRA ARE EVIL!”

Hunk’s voice echoes. “GOD SAVE THE POKÉMON!”

“SHIRO DESERVED BETTER THAN THIS!” Lance shouts, tears in his eyes.

“I’M SCARED FOR MY BATTLE TEAM!” Hunk yells, his voice breaking.

Lance grabs a rock and flings it, his shoulder aching. “I MISS MY MOM,” he sobs. He falls to his knees. “AND I CAN’T TELL HER ABOUT THIS!”

Hunk kneels beside Lance and puts an arm over his shoulders. For a while, the two of them don’t say anything. Both of them cry a little. Maybe more than a little. But after a few minutes, Lance starts to feel better. He’s not alone, and it felt good to get all that off his chest.

Hunk pats Lance’s back. “Better?” He asks.

Lance nods and wipes his eyes. “I’m not leaving. Not until we hit Team Galra hard.”

“I’m with you there,” Hunk says.

They get to their feet, brush off their knees, and head back to the gym. It’s been a long day, and it’s time to get some sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things you may have missed in all the action but are details that I love and want you to love:  
> Shiro’s Skitty is a girl and her name is Princess  
> Milotic is back with Lance  
> Skitty isn’t afraid of Shiro’s arm  
> Dialga is adorable  
> Hunk swore, so you know Team Galra is in for it


	9. You Will Remember Me

Team Galra has to realize that their plan to take out the island’s radio tower failed, which means that whatever it was they were planning needs replanning. That buys the Elites some time, but not a lot of it. They need help if they’re going to prepare for what’s coming, and help comes in the form of numbers.

Allura puts in a call to all the Elite teams, and they all send representatives to the island. They arrive on boats, in hang gliders, and on the backs of their Pokémon. The alarm system goes haywire for a while there, but no one wants to risk turning it off.

Pidge’s brother, Matt, shows up and the two of them disappear into the lab for hours at a time. An elderly woman named Ryner, who trains Grass type Pokémon, takes her battle team and starts building a natural defensive wall of trees and vines around the gym, and the entrance to the Cave of Origin. Shay and Rax show up on the island and Lance almost has a heart attack.

“When did you two become Elites?” He sputters.

“After we left here,” Shay says. “We’ve been Elites for two weeks.”

Hunk grabs Shay and the two of them go off to train. Rax grumbles to himself and stalks the hallways, scowling enough to make Keith look like Mr. Personality.

Shiro leaves the island for a day and comes back with an older man slung over his shoulders. Lance is in the main office with Allura, looking over a detailed map of the island, when Shiro barges in and deposits their guest in a chair. The man keeps shouting about deadly plants and the likelihood of death, and Shiro looks ready to strangle him.

Allura grabs the man by the shoulders. “Dr. Slav,” she says firmly. “The Swords of Justice call upon you.”

Dr. Slav goes limp, his eyes close, and after a few seconds he snaps awake again. “What’s going on?” He asks, looking around wildly. “Where are the attackers?”

“Not here yet,” Allura says, “But they’re coming. Team Galra is back and they’re after Kyogre.”

Dr. Slav waves his arms frantically. “The likelihood of their attempts to take over the world succeeding will go up by 112% if they capture Kyogre! We can’t let that happen!”

“Which is why we’ve called you back into service,” Allura says. “Team Galra have manufactured hideous devices that allow them to use painful electric shocks to force Pokémon to do their bidding. We need your help to stop these collars from working.”

Dr. Slav leaps to his feet. “Take me to the lab, I’ll get started right away!” He turns to run out the door, then abruptly bends down. “First, shoelaces…”

When his shoelaces are appropriately tied, Allura leads the doctor to the lab, and Lance is left to hope Shiro’s head doesn’t combust. “Who was that?”

“He was a member of the Elite many years ago,” Shiro says. “Brilliant man, but…quirky.”

“And what was that business with the swords of justice?”

“It’s a callback,” Shiro explains. “In case the members of the Elite ever need to reunite to save all of Pokémon-kind, there’s a trigger sentence that will break through the block on their memories of their time as members of the Elite, and they’ll remember the Legendary Pokémon.”

Lance is amazed. “Sounds like preparations for the worst have always been in place.”

Shiro shrugs. “I mean, to an extent, yes. But you never really know what you need until the worst happens.” He sighs. “I guess we’ll all be learning lessons from this.”

Lance folds his hands in his lap and looks down at the map. Already, Allura is planning to put in a second and possibly third radio tower, hopefully making it harder for all of them to be attacked at the same time. If only they could move Kyogre, it would solve all their problems. But it’s impossible, to take the giant Pokémon out into the open would be to put it at immediate risk.

So, they’ll just have to continue preparing for a battle that now seems inevitable.

 

Lance is woken at dawn by a siren blaring. He’s on his feet and out of his room in seconds, not sure if it’s a drill or the real thing until he gets to the main office.

“It’s them,” Allura says. “A helicopter just entered our airspace.”

Lance’s heart stutters to a halt, then picks up speed. This is it.

A voice ring out, amplified to rock concert levels.

“This is Commander Sendak of Team Galra,” the voice says, “We have come for Kyogre. We have numbers unmatched by that of your own, you cannot hope to win against us. Surrender the Pokémon, and we will leave the island in peace.”

Allura grabs the microphone for the PA system and presses a button. She yells into the mic, her voice also amplified. “EAT MY SHIT YOU FEATHERLESS CHICKEN!” She screams.

Lance falls to the floor, laughing hysterically. He knows this is a horrible situation, and that just makes it even _funnier_. Allura, leader of the Hoenn Elite, always collected, always eloquent, screaming obscenities at the top of her lungs…it’s just so fitting.

Allura slams the mic down, her cheeks flushed. “That felt good,” she says. Then she raises her voice. “Everyone, battle stations! This is not a drill, it’s time to defend our island!”

Lance pumps his fist in the air. “Let’s go kick some ass!”

He grabs his pokeballs, and runs out of the gym. The vines that Ryner and her team pulled together to form a dome over the gym are already falling apart as Team Galra attacks them. Pidge comes flying out of the gym, a huge remote control in her hand, and with Matt and Dr. Slav on her heels.

“It’s finished!” She yells, “We just need to get higher so we can transmit the signal more clearly!”

“Stay safe!” Lance yells to her.

She turns and smiles at him, and keeps running. Lance hopes to god she’ll be okay.

Keith races out of the gym next, Shay, Hunk, and Rax on his heels. Keith skids to a halt beside Lance.

“You ready for this?” Keith asks.

“Hell no,” Lance laughs. “But that’s why it’s a battle. You’re never ready.”

Keith claps a hand on lance’s shoulder. “You’ll be fine, and so will your team.”

Lance nods. “Let’s hope so.”

The vines start falling to the ground, and Lance tosses his pokeballs up in the air. It’s time to go.

 

 

It’s the most epic battle Lance has ever been part of. And he doesn’t remember a single moment from it.

 

 

Lance opens his eyes slowly. He knows this ceiling—it’s the ceiling in the hospital. Why is he in the hospital?

The battle!

Lance shoots up and groans as his head spins. “What the fuck happened?” He groans.

“Hey, sleeping beauty,” Hunk’s voice says.

Lance looks up. Hunk is sitting at the foot of the bed. There’s a long scratch on his cheek, and his right arm is in a sling, but he’s smiling.

“Did we win?” Lance asks, heart racing. “Is Kyogre alright?”

“Buddy, don’t you remember?” Hunk asks.

“Obviously not!” Lance practically screeches.

Hunk shakes his head. “Kyogre is fine. You, your team, and Kyogre pretty much saved our butts.”

But apparently, Lance’s memory loss is not uncommon for trainers who have been overtaken by the power of their Legendary Pokémon. As Hunk tells Lance the story of what happened, some things do come back to him.

It was mere minutes before Pidge’s signal scrambling device took effect, and Team Galra’s Pokémon realized that they were no longer being shocked into doing things they didn’t want to. Not all the Pokémon turned, but the good majority of them attacked their former masters, taking revenge for all the hurt they had been subjected to. But that wasn’t enough to win the battle. Sendak hadn’t been lying, they did have vast numbers, even without half their Pokémon on their sides anymore. Hunk filled Lance in on the fuzzier parts in his memories, like what happened after Lance saw Sendak heading for the tunnel to the Cave of Origin.

Apparently, Hunk and Lance had gone running after Sendak. They both had their teams attack him, but Sendak was prepared. He had a taser, and he used it on Prinplup and Tyranitar. He had sneered at Lance and Hunk, and said that all their efforts meant nothing, because Team Galra would never be felled by trainers who pretended to know what they were doing.

Lance went after Sendak with his fists after that. Sendak was jacked up on drugs, and knocked Lance around easily. Lance and Hunk battled together, and they managed to get the taser away from him, but Sendak got a hold of Lance and pinned him to the ground, an arm over his throat.

Before Hunk could move to help, Lance had smirked and screamed, “You’ll never get Kyogre, because it’s going to get you first!”

Then Lance’s Gyarados reared up behind Sendak, its eyes glowing blue, and it whacked Sendak aside with its tail. Hunk said Lance stood up, and his eyes started glowing blue as well. Lance held out his arms, and two glowing orbs appeared in his hands. His battle team rushed to his side, even Sirius and Blue, all of them surrounded by a blue glow. Lance screamed, and the orbs in his hands shot out blinding light. Apparently, the light surrounded the island. Apparently, the ground shook like an earthquake was going to split the island apart. Apparently, a wave rose from the ocean and somehow washed all the Team Galra members out to sea, leaving the Elites and Pokémon untouched. Apparently when the light faded, Lance was unconscious, and Sendak had nearly drowned.

“ _Nearly_ drowned,” Hunk emphasizes as Lance’s eyes widen.

“And the rest of Team Galra?” Lance asks.

Hunk shrugs. “We searched the ocean but haven’t found them. I guess they made it back to their ships somehow.”

“Or they died,” Lance says. He’s horrified and awed. “And their Pokémon?”

“Being taken care of by Coran and Rax,” Hunk says. “Do you want to go see them?”

“And my battle team,” Lance says.

“They’re all in the same place, let’s go,” Hunk says, and he helps Lance out of bed. After swaying on his feet, Hunk simply hoists Lance onto his back.

“How long have I been out?” Lance asks.

“Only like, ten hours,” Hunk says.

Only, but it feels like longer. The trainers who came for the battle are helping repair the damage that was done to the gym, though it is minimal, and they all stop so they can say hi to Lance, shake his hand over Hunk’s shoulder, and ask how he’s doing. Hunk takes Lance to the Ground-type battle field, which has been converted to a Pokémon hospital. As soon as they enter the room, there’s a yip of excitement and Hunk nearly gets bowled over as Sirius pounces on him, straining to get to Lance.

As soon as Hunk lets Lance down, he’s bombarded by the rest of his battle team. Gyarados, Prinplup, Milotic, Blastoise, Slowbro, and Blue all want to get into Lance’s arms; even Sharpedo calls out to Lance from a nearby recovery pool. Lance makes sure to give all of them hugs and praise. He’s so focused on his team that he hardly notices the noise in the room, but eventually it reaches his ears and he looks around. Dozens of injured Pokémon lay out on mats, each with bandaged necks. These are Team Galra’s victims. They whimper and howl, squeal and trill.

Hunk is already attending to a few Pokémon, and Lance joins him. “Are they hurting?” Lance asks.

Hunk shakes his head. “They’ve been given pain medications. It’s not physical pain, it’s the pain of being alone. They don’t know what’s going to happen to them now. We haven’t had time to explain it to them and we don’t even know how.”

“I can fix this,” Lance says. He marches out of the gym and grabs the nearest phone, dialing the PA system.

“Right,” he says, his voice echoing through the gym, “Everyone forget about repairing the gym, the Pokémon are more important. And someone without a giant Legendary, summon them and tell them to talk to these poor, abused babies. Let’s go, people!”

Lance goes back inside and sits down next to a Poliwrath. It looks at him warily, and Lance takes one of its hands.

“You’re okay,” Lance says. “We’re going to help you.”

The doors to the gym fly open and Cresselia, Entei and Dialga come bounding. The Pokémon chatter falls silent, then picks up again as each injured Pokémon leans towards the Legendries. The ground shakes and Regirock reaches one giant arm inside the door to wave.

“Hunk!” Lance cries, glaring.

“Hey, I need it, too!” Hunk says defensively.

Lance sighs, but he was the one who ordered this. Shiro, Pidge, Allura, and Keith come running into the gym and head straight for Lance.

“Thank goodness you’re alright!” Allura cries, hugging Lance tightly.

Shiro ruffles his hair. “You had us going there, man.”

“Is Sendak alive?” Lance asks.

Allura nods. “I just finished questioning him. We gathered some valuable intelligence, and he’ll be transported to the mainland to be arraigned by the courts in the morning.”

“Sendak gave up valuable intel?” Lance asks.

Allura looks away. “Well…not willingly. I kind of forced him to tell me, through psychic persuasion.”

“You didn’t have a choice,” Keith says firmly. “It’s not ideal, but we needed that information.” He turns to Lance. “We know how to find Zarkon now.”

“We do?” Lance cries.

“And we’re taking the battle to him,” Pidge says, her voice burning with ferocity. “Dr. Slav, Matt and I are making modifications to my frequency jamming device, so it can cover and even larger area, even be hooked up to Team Galra’s central command system and shut off the collars directly, instead of just jamming their frequencies. We’re going to set all of Team Galra’s Pokémon free, all at once, and if the result is anything like what happened today, more than half the Pokémon will turn on Team Galra.”

“And then?” Lance asks nervously.

Allura looks around. “Then this,” she says, gesturing towards the Pokémon. “I promise, we were going to call the Legendries once we knew that all the Pokémon had been treated and medicated.”

“And I was just about to call you,” Coran says, stepping up from behind the group. “But Lance beat me to it.” He pats Lance’s back. “Good to see you on your feet again.”

Lance grins, then he remembers what Coran said a few days ago. “Hey, Coran…you’re not leaving, are you?”

Coran sputters. “Me, leave?! Never, not after all this!” He throws his arms out. “This is what I live for, helping Pokémon and Elite trainers! I’m coming with you when you face Zarkon, I wouldn’t miss it for the world!”

Lance sighs in relief. “We’re really doing it, then? We’re going to take him down?”

Shiro nods. “If all goes as it should, we’ll leave in two days. It won’t be enough time for Zarkon to move his operation, but he’ll probably be expecting us. We’ll have to be prepared for an even bigger fight than this one.”

“But Zarkon won’t expect our army,” Keith says, grinning. “Tell him.”

“Tell me what?” Lance asks.

Hunk laughs. “The Elites, man! They’re all going to battle Zarkon. Allura sent out the call, they’re all going.”

“But what about Kyogre?” Lance sputters. “We can’t move it!”

Allura takes Lance’s hand and presses a pokeball into it. “I took this off of Sendak. It’s a pokeball strong enough to contain a Legendary, but only if it goes willingly. We figure he was planning to force Kyogre to come with him, but you won’t have to. Kyogre will willingly join you in this fight.”

Lance curls his fingers around the ball. “Damn,” he whispers. “This changes everything.” He looks up and meets the eyes of his teammates. “And the other Legendary Pokémon will join, too? Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Yes,” Allura says. “But we can’t stop them. This is what they are supposed to do as guardians of Pokémon and mankind. And it’s what they want to do. They’re tired of hiding in the shadows. They want their day in the fight.”

“And they’ll get it,” Keith says. “It’s time to put an end to Team Galra, one way or another.”

Lance looks down at the pokeball in his hands, a fire igniting in his chest. This is why he joined the Elites, not to be a test for other trainers, but an inspiration to them. He’s finally going to be that, and more. He’s ready for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things you may have missed in all the action but are details that I love and want you to love:  
> EAT MY SHIT YOU FEATHERLESS CHICKEN  
> Ryner is here, she trains grass types  
> Slav was a member of the Elite


	10. Epilogue: Remember Me for Centuries

If you watch the video, the first thing you see is a shaky screen, and the first thing you hear is a voice saying, “Blue, don’t groom the camera!”

Then you see a shadow moving around, and a young boy sits in front of the camera. A Vaporeon is draped over his shoulders, and he clutches an egg in his arms.

“Hi,” the boy greets, smiling at the camera. He’s a gangly thing, his face not quite young but not mature either, but his eyes are fierce and strong, even as they curve into crescents with his smile. “My name is Lance, and this—” he points to the Vaporeon on his shoulders, “Is Blue.” He stoops down and scoops a Flareon off the ground and into his lap. “This is Flareon, Blue’s mate.” He points to the egg. “This is their baby. Adopted baby. Long story, and it’s not why you’re here. If you’re watching this video, it means you’ve just joined the Hoenn Elite.”

Lance settles back into the chair. “Congratulations on making it here. If you’re like me, you had no idea what you were getting into when you took the test. You didn’t know about the Legendary Pokémon that you’re now bonded to, or—” he cuts off with a muffled sound as Blue sticks her nose in his mouth. Lance shoves her face away. “Or Kyogre,” he finishes as Blue clambers off his shoulders and into his lap to curl around the egg.

“If you’re watching this video, it probably means I’m not part of the Elite anymore.” Lance smiles sadly. “I’m not looking forward to the day I have to leave, and part of me doesn’t want to make this video, but I want to talk about it while it’s all still fresh in my mind. You see, trainer I haven’t met yet and might never meet, a few weeks ago, my teammates and I banded together with all the members of the Elite to take down a group named Team Galra. And Kyogre willing, you’ll never have to face them.

“But I’m getting ahead of myself. Because if you’re like me, this is scary stuff. Team Galra was scary. They committed atrocities against Pokémon and humans, and I wasn’t prepared for it when I signed on to be a member of the Elites. I had doubts about myself along the way, and a few times, I wanted to quit. Being a member of this team of Elite trainers, it’s hard on you psychologically. It’s cool, and fun, and rewarding as hell, but you have to make sure you’re able to take care of yourself before you take care of the world.

“Anyway, if you’re watching this, it means I’ve forgotten about the epic battle between Team Galra and the Elite trainers. In order to keep the Legendary Pokémon safe, I will have had those memories blocked from my mind. But for now, I remember. You may have heard about this battle, but Allura’s trying to keep everything hush-hush. Well, it was intense. Dozens of Elite trainers and every single Legendary Pokémon known to mankind, all descending on a huge building—hugeass skyscraper, oh boy Team Galra did not know the meaning of the word subtlety, let me tell you. I never want to forget the sound of glass breaking as we stormed the building, or the look on Pidge’s face when she shut off the collars—Team Galra used electric shock collars to force Pokémon to do their bidding, and Pidge shut them off. It was amazing. Violent, and scary, but…amazing. Pokémon who had never known anything but pain and misery, realizing they didn’t have to be subjected to that anymore, free to make their own choices for probably the first time in their lives! Most of them turned on their trainers. Most of them didn’t know how to control themselves. Hence, why it was kind of violent and scary. But it was also awe-inspiring.

“As trainers, we sometimes forget what our Pokémon are capable of. That even the smallest Pokémon, when not raised with love and respect, can unleash one hell of hurt on those who have wronged it. To see the raw power these Pokémon had, to see them act on the feelings they held inside themselves for years…it was something I never want to forget.”

Lance pauses for a while, looking sad. “It was terrible.”

He gives himself a shake. “But my teammates and I couldn’t watch. We had to take Team Galra down from the top—Zarkon, their leader, needed to be taken out. Cresselia locked on to his aura and tracked him. We followed that Pokémon through a maze of corridors and traps—Zarkon was paranoid, let me tell you. When we got to him, he was ready for us. Nearly took us out with lasers! But Dialga saved us from those. Then, we battled. Even with six Elites and one assistant trainer against Zarkon, it was a tough battle. Zarkon was a monster, but he worked with his team like a well-oiled machine. There was something beautiful about it, as horrifying as it was. I had Kyogre with me, but I didn’t want to call it out. I didn’t want it to get hurt.

“But the thing about Legendary Pokémon is no one commands them. Kyogre didn’t wait to be called, it came out on its own. Zarkon attacked it with everything he had, but he underestimated how strong the bond between Pokémon and trainer is, even between Legendary Pokémon and Elite trainers. I wasn’t going to let Kyogre get hurt, nor was it going to let me get hurt.”

Lance laughs. “I wish I could remember more of the battle, but linking your mind up with that of a Legendary Pokémon…it’s powerful stuff. I think it’s almost better I don’t remember it.”

He goes quiet again, for a longer amount of time. Then he whispers, “We killed Zarkon. We didn’t set out to do it. We knew it could only end with capture or death. I guess it wasn’t even our fault. He had another one of those electric collars, one he planned to use on a Legendary Pokémon, but through the power of the Legendries and sheer strength of my teammates and I, that collar ended up on Zarkon’s neck. It zapped him into cardiac arrest. No one could stop the collar, no one could risk touching it to get it off him. Once we realized what was happening, Cresselia hypnotized Zarkon so he wouldn’t feel it.”

Lance scowls. “It’s an awful thing to say, but I wonder if that was…too kind. After all the suffering Zarkon caused, I think he deserved a taste of his own medicine.”

Lance looks up at the camera. “Are you still watching? You’re probably freaked out by now. I told you that you didn’t sign on for this. But again, I hope you’ll never have to face Team Galra in your lifetime. But people are greedy, they want power, power they want to steal from the Legendary Pokémon. You may face your own threats, and I hope not, but they might be greater than Team Galra.”

Lance leans forwards. “But I’m here to tell you that you’re stronger than you think you are. You chose a medal that represented your connection to a Legendary Pokémon, a connection that has been sitting in your heart since you were born. You may have felt it before now, when you read a book about or saw a picture of your bonded Legendary. That bond means you have the heart of Kyogre, or Dialga, or whatever Legendary Pokémon you’re bonded with. You _can_ battle it out on the training field and in the heart of the jungle. You _can_ defend your honor, your gym, and the entire freaking world. You have that in you. As sure as I know that I’m glad I joined the Elites, I know you can be, too.”

Lance looks puzzled. “Um, did that make sense? Hang on, let me think about that…”

The door to the room bangs open and Lance jumps and looks around. “Jesus, Keith!” he screams as another trainer stalks into the room, “I’m filming an inspirational video here!”

“You took the egg!” Keith shouts, pointing accusingly at Lance.

“Flareon and Blue are both here,” Lance grumbles.

“Did you not think I’d want to watch it hatch?”

“It’s not hatching.”

“Idiot, yes it is!” Keith shouts.

Lance looks down at the egg and gasps. “Oh my stars, it is!” He jumps off the chair and puts the egg on it, crouching down beside it. “This is so exciting!” He cries.

Blue and Flareon nose at the egg, each cooing softly at it. Keith sits on the other side of the chair, his eyes glued to the cracks in the shell. The anticipation in the room is palpable even through the screen, and after several long minutes, a tiny, pink nose pushes through the shell, followed by a wet head, and then Flareon darts forward and drags the Eevee pup out of the egg. The pup lands with a soft squeak on the chair, and Blue and Flareon begin grooming it.

The camera shakes, then is picked up and held over the chair, giving the viewer a better look at the family.

“See that?” Lance asks, his voice thick with tears, “That’s why we’re part of the Elite, to protect moments like this one. What is more beautiful than that?”

“Lance,” Keith asks, “Are you going to leave that in the video?”

“You bet I am!” Lance crows, and then the video ends.

 

 

If you watch that video, you wouldn’t know that after the camera was turned off, Lance and Keith carried the happy family back to the Pokémon nursery. You wouldn’t know that the nursery was brand new, just built for the young Pokémon rescued from Team Galra. You wouldn’t know that Blue and Flareon had picked out that egg from dozens of other Eevee eggs. You wouldn’t know that the egg had been damaged, and that the Eevee pup that hatched had deformed back legs. You wouldn’t know that Blue and Flareon loved that pup with all their little hearts, you wouldn’t know that Lance called Keith ‘grandpa’ for weeks after the pup hatched.

You wouldn’t know that on the island, things had begun to change. Security was tighter, people were a little jumpier, and it was taking some adjustment to get back to regular life after the battle that had just been fought. You wouldn’t know how close the six Elite trainers and their resident healer/secretary/best assistant ever had become. You wouldn’t know that they had campfires every night and hiked the island each weekend.

You wouldn’t know that, but if you watched that video, you would know that you were about to embark on an adventure of your own, to bond with trainers in a way that you could have never imagined. Because if you watched that video, it meant that you had joined the Elites, and you were in for a hell of a ride.

If you watched that video, your story was just beginning. It wasn’t a legend yet, but it would become one. After all, every legend starts with someone who has no idea what they’re about to get into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading!


End file.
